Lecturers threaten to quit over Arief's firing
Lecturers threaten to quit over Arief's firing
SALATIGA, Central Java (JP): A massive demonstration over the
dismissal of renowned scholar Arief Budiman virtually crippled
the Satya Wacana Christian University yesterday.
In the latest maneuver, 16 professors with doctorate degrees
threatened to resign unless the rector and chief of the
foundation managing the university step down or reinstate Arief.
Hundreds of students and teachers staged a demonstration on
the prestigious university campus for the tenth day in a row to
press their demands.
Only the schools of economics and law did not boycott the
daily university activities, though the number of students
attending the classes was very small.
Another twist occurred yesterday as scores of economics
students, former supporters of the controversial rector John JOI
Ihalauw, joined the protesters to dramatize the demand for his
resignation and Arief's reinstatement.
"We didn't join the demonstrations before not because we
didn't sympathize with your cause but because we were intimidated
by lecturers," economics student Krisna told a cheering crowd.
Protesting lecturers said they plan to boycott classes and
resign if their demands go unheeded.
Unmoved by the storms of protest, rector Ihalauw distributed
an open letter to students and teachers, pleading with them to
stop protesting and resume classes. But the call went largely
unnoticed.
He criticized lecturers who took part in demonstrations and
boycotted classes. "Those (teachers) participating in the protest
do not understand academic etiquette nor educational law," he
said in his letter.
"If he closes his eyes to popular demand, I am afraid his
appeal for calm will be useless," said Dr. Rukmadi Warsito, dean
of the school of agriculture.
Petition
Law students issued an eight-point petition in which they
demanded that the university's foundation rescind Arief's
dismissal and Ihalauw's election.
The university's rector and foundation chief has said they
fired Arief for having ignored various disciplinary warnings
issued since 1988. Arief's latest offense, after the final
warning issued in March, was writing an article in a Jakarta
daily critical of the university's management.
The tension between Arief and university leaders stems from
his opposition to Ihalauw's election as the new rector this year.
He, along with several senior lecturers, maintains that the
election process was undemocratic and manipulated by the
foundation for Ihalauw's favor.
Demonstrators no longer gathered in front of the rector's
office but instead fixed posters to his doors.
Not all students are happy with the continuing protests,
claiming the demonstrations have disrupted classes. Some
expressed their concern in posters, also hung on the rectorate
office's walls.
Officials at the Salatiga manpower office said yesterday the
university's leadership had notified them of Arief's dismissal
but that they could not decide anything because they still
awaited the sociologist's defense. (har/pan)