Student Banner Calling for Apology at UGM Gate
A giant banner bearing a letter of apology from Universitas Gadjah Mada was briefly displayed at the UGM roundabout entrance gate on Thursday, 21 June 2026. Photos of the banner circulated on social media. However, the banner was eventually removed by the UGM rectorate.
The white banner contained a message of apology from UGM for allowing Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka to be elected as President and Vice-President of Indonesia for 2024-2029. “Thus, we apologise for this apology as a form of remorse for witnessing the rot of national leadership today, which has become a short route to the destruction of the nation,” the banner read.
One of the participants, Gladwin, said students installed the giant banner on Thursday at around 07:30 local time. After two hours it was removed by UGM security.
They removed the banner with the knowledge of Hempri Suyatna, Director of the UGM Directorate of Student Affairs. Hempri said that the authority to speak about the removal lay with the UGM spokesperson when contacted by Tempo.
Gladwin said the banner’s installation arose from an initiative by UGM students troubled by the country’s worsening condition. The students cited various practices of silencing critical voices by state apparatus. They protested the MBG project, which shifts education funding. In addition, they criticised the rise in the prices of essential goods and the cancellation of budgets for health programmes.
UGM, as an educational institution born of struggle, Gladwin said, asks forgiveness from every citizen criminalised for speaking out. “We apologise because this populist university has lost the solidarity of the struggle with all Indonesians who today reap the bitter fruits of the regime’s banalities,” he said on Friday, 22 May 2026.
The UGM rectorate said the contents of the banner did not represent the campus’s views. According to the UGM spokesperson, I Made Andi Arsana, UGM respects and protects freedom of expression and the right of every citizen to express their views. He said the banner “cited the university’s identity and did not meet the applicable rules,” in a written statement.
He added that the exercise of expressing aspirations must consider governance, campus space usage regulations, and clear responsibility on the part of the signatories. The banner was removed because its placement did not comply with the designated purpose of information display media in the campus area.
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