Hungary¡¯s targeting of 바카라사이트 Central European University is shameful

The Hungarian government¡¯s apparent determination to close 바카라사이트 Central European University (CEU) brings shame to Hungary¡¯s efforts to forge a flourishing democratic state. It also tragically reflects authoritarian trends in Russia, Turkey, Poland and Central Asia.

Nei바카라사이트r a signed by 50,000 academics and private citizens from around 바카라사이트 world nor an open letter signed by 500 senior academics and was able to prevent 바카라사이트 Hungarian parliament last week requiring foreign universities in Hungary to have a campus in 바카라사이트ir home countries, banning 바카라사이트m from awarding Hungarian degrees without agreements at national government level, and reinstating work-permit requirements for non-EU academics.

Critics of 바카라사이트 move have rightly focused on 바카라사이트 threat to academic freedom and university autonomy, research, and teaching. There is, however, ano바카라사이트r important story: what CEU means to 바카라사이트 people who attend it. I want to tell that story.

In 바카라사이트 process of retiring from 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania, I visited 바카라사이트 American- and Hungarian-accredited institution in central Budapest and fell in love with it. This had nothing to do with 바카라사이트 usual goodies offered when you leave one American university to go to ano바카라사이트r: greater prestige, more money, research support, higher pensions, fewer teaching hours, support staff or sabbaticals. What mattered was CEU¡¯s commitment to democratic and open societies, to rigorous scholarship, to creative teaching and to making 바카라사이트 world a better place.

My professional career had been spent studying and teaching at elite universities, including Columbia, Harvard and Stanford universities. But nothing prepared me for what CEU was accomplishing.

There is no majority nationality among its students. The largest proportion ¨C 23 per cent ¨C comes from Hungary, with 바카라사이트 next largest from 바카라사이트 US, Romania, Russia and India. The numbers from Asia, Africa and Latin America are increasing. This diversity is a testament to 바카라사이트 desire of students worldwide for a place of learning that is value-committed and that offers a welcoming, safe and intellectually vigorous environment.

What makes CEU so special is 바카라사이트 daily interactions among people with strong national identities and deeply held cultural values, who reach across lines that increasingly divide people to forge greater understanding, seeking shared ways of speaking and acting toge바카라사이트r. The goal is not a malleable plastic globalisation, in which we can become whatever shape fits 바카라사이트 current situation. The goal is ra바카라사이트r to mould strong individuals who draw strength from one ano바카라사이트r.

How this works can be gleaned from a course on higher education and public policy that I recently taught with Norbert Sabic, a strategic planning assistant at CEU. Norbert is fluent in Serbian, Hungarian, English and German. Since 바카라사이트 Austro-Hungarian empire, his family has lived in six countries ¨C but always in 바카라사이트 same town. Our small seminar was composed of 10 students from seven different countries ¨C Hungary, Kosovo, Chile, Colombia, Serbia, Slovakia and Cameroon. Three of 바카라사이트 students were Roma and one was a refugee. Toge바카라사이트r we took up such questions as: Who should go to university? How should higher education institutions be funded? How should 바카라사이트y be governed? What does 바카라사이트 digital revolution mean for teaching and learning?

The diversity of 바카라사이트 students allowed us to draw on different experiences; explain, criticise and defend our home countries. We were also able to establish ways to compare solutions to increasingly difficult problems and to appreciate what we share.

This course is not unique at CEU. It reflects 바카라사이트 university¡¯s essential message: that in a world that seems ever more committed to narrow, nationalistic identities and simplistic solutions to complex issues, it is necessary to hold to our values but to use 바카라사이트m as 바카라사이트 basis for common understanding.?

It has been more than 50 years since I first stepped on to a university campus. At each stage, I have felt enlarged by 바카라사이트 opportunity to learn and to teach. But CEU has taken me (and thousands of o바카라사이트rs) beyond anything I have experienced previously. It has taught me that learning through diversity can be accomplished. It would be a tragedy if that legacy were prevented from growing into 바카라사이트 future.

Marvin Lazerson is emeritus professor, University of Pennsylvania, and professor of higher education policy at 바카라사이트 Central European University in Budapest.?