Rectors convene over RI's future

Rectors convene over RI's future

YOGYAKARTA: The country's university rectors convene here to
formulate the high-profile vision and mission of the nation and
strategies to approach them in relation to the upcoming July
presidential race.

Results of the meeting -- the Campus Convention for the Future
of Indonesia -- will be handed to the elected president.

"Universities throughout the country will receive them too, so
that they will be able to play a role as a moral influence on the
new administration," said host rector Sofian Effendi of Gadjah
Mada University.

The gathering was initiated by the Forum of Indonesian Rectors
(FRI) in cooperation with the Indonesian Rector Assembly (MRI).
It was officially closed on Saturday.

Universities were concerned at the deteriorating political and
social state of the country and therefore the rectors were called
to make a contribution to the country's recovery.

Scholar Azyumardi Azra, who is also the rector of the
Indonesian Islamic University, law expert and human rights
fighter Todung Mulya Lubis, Makarim Wibisono of the foreign
ministry and economist Rizal Ramli were speakers at the
conference.

"We deliberately did not invite politicians because we want it
(the ideas to be formulated) to be purely from an academic
perspective," Sofian said. --JP