There was something different about the opening of the UGM Faculty of Law’s anniversary celebration in 2025. Typically, the anniversary series of events begins with a joint religious study session. However, the 79th anniversary of the UGM Faculty of Law kicked off with a Dialogue on Diversity on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. The Diversity Dialogue itself serves as a forum to explore the role of law and national values in creating a just, inclusive, and harmonious society.
The former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Mahfud MD, S.H., S.U., M.I.P., was one of the speakers at this dialogue. Prof. Mahfud MD emphasized the importance of tolerance and humanity amidst the nation’s diversity. According to him, Indonesia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious country comprising tens of thousands of islands. Therefore, Indonesia is considered quite remarkable for its ability to remain united despite its many differences.
“The key to our greatness is unity in diversity,” he said while presenting his remarks as the first speaker. Several efforts can be made to nurture diversity and maintain national harmony. These include strengthening the values of diversity, tolerance, and humanity amidst the nation’s diversity.
Our duty is to uphold diversity through democracy and social justice so that social justice is achieved and the people’s welfare is secured. If the people are prosperous and the government is just, then the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia will be strong,” he explained. The former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court also stated that the enforcement of the law plays a role in maintaining national harmony. If the rule of law and justice are weak, it will inevitably lead to resistance and create conditions for social conflict.
Prof. Mahfud MD urged the public to avoid disintegration or division within our diversity. Such divisions can arise from primordial sentiments triggered by injustice and arbitrariness in politics and governance.
In addition, the Professor of Constitutional Law also urged the next generation to be cautious of contemporary threats. This is because the current generation is directly engaged with the global world, while the generation that shaped history is considered to be nearly gone.
“We are strong because we were originally united in a humanity-centered diversity. This unity can be shattered by injustice fueled by certain factors—idealism and aspirations rooted in a shared fate and history,” he said.
Next, the second speaker, Father Alexius A. Binawan, explained strategies for preserving diversity through tolerance. He noted that there are three levels of tolerance: communicative tolerance, coordinative tolerance, and synergistic tolerance.
“Communicative tolerance is simply about communicating, but the second level involves coordination and collaboration—meaning working together. However, in the context of ethnic groups, we can achieve synergy,” he said. In synergistic tolerance, the strengths of each ethnic group can be harnessed to make Indonesia a better place. Tolerance itself has three dimensions: horizontal (personal), horizontal (institutional), and vertical.
On this occasion, the Dean of the UGM Faculty of Law, Dahliana Hasan, S.H., M.Tax., Ph.D., expressed her appreciation for the “Dialogue on Diversity” event, which was held in a hybrid format. According to Dahliana, the Faculty of Law embodies diversity because its faculty, staff, and students come from regions beyond the island of Java. Furthermore, the religious affiliations are also diverse, so the faculty emphasizes that the academic community should nurture this diversity through tolerance and humanity.
The Diversity Dialogue event organized by the UGM Faculty of Law serves as a concrete step toward realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 4: Quality Education, by supporting the strengthening of higher education, the dissemination of knowledge, and the enhancement of academic capacity and legal skills; as well as SDG Goal 17—Partnerships for the Goals—by strengthening partnerships between law schools and various key stakeholders to achieve sustainable development goals.
Author: Public Relations Office, Faculty of Law, UGM
