Satya Wacana University rectorate dissolved

JAKARTA (JP): Following weeks of unrest sparked by the dismissal of renowned scholar Arief Budiman, a presidium will be formed to take over the leadership of the Satya Wacana Christian University in Central Java once the rectorate is dissolved.

The five member presidium will be assigned to restore order on the conflict-ridden campus, to reactivate the senate and to overhaul rules on rectorial election.

According to press reports yesterday, university officials have one week as of last Wednesday to elect presidium members.

The liquidation of the rectorate has put critics of "undemocratically " elected rector John JOI Ihalauw on the upper hand and Ihalauw on the defensive.

Calling for Ihalauw's dismissal has been the main focus of the waves of demonstrations involving thousands of students and lecturers opposing Arief's dismissal last month.

The decision to form the presidium was made on Wednesday by key figures representing the churches founding the university, Satya Wacana managing foundation and groups opposing the dismissal of Arief, at a meeting in the Kaliurang resort, north of Yogyakarta.

But Ihalauw said the decision was not final yet and that he will continue to carry out his day-to-day jobs until the foundation rules otherwise.

The key figures did not decide the status of Arief, a Harvard educated sociologist and well-known government critic, who was dismissed for disciplinary reasons.

But Radius Prawiro, a former senior cabinet minister who is playing a mediatory role in the conflict, hinted that the dismissal of Arief might be reviewed by the presidium.

"Anything about Arief's status is possible for review," said the former coordinating minister for economy and finance.

Upon hearing news about the liquidation of the rectorate, students opposing Ihalauw's action to dismiss Arief a month ago, dismantled the numerous posters they had put up in every corner of the university in Salatiga.

Also on Wednesday, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro received a petition from hundreds of students and teachers of the university demanded that Arief be reinstated.

The petition, signed by 14 of the 25 senate members, 21 teachers with doctoral degrees, 106 teachers and 153 students, was submitted by Leila Ch. Budiman, a Satya Wacana University lecturer and Arief's wife.

Both Wardiman and Leila declined to comment on their 30-minute meeting. "I only conveyed my colleagues' message," said Leila, who is a well-known columnist. (pan)