UIN Jember Student Senate Protests Rector Candidates’ Vision and Mission Event in Lumajang
The Student Senate of Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq State Islamic University (UIN KHAS) Jember says it is disappointed and angry over the rector selection process. It alleges that the process has failed to follow the rules and has lacked transparency from the outset.
“The election of a rector, which should be a solemn, dignified and participatory process, has instead been reduced to a stage for arrogance that defies reason, ethics and propriety,” Muhammad Oky Mabruri, chair of the UIN KHAS Jember Student Senate, said in a statement and video received on Friday (16 October 2026).
The student senate’s criticism intensified over plans for rector candidates to present their visions, missions and programmes, followed by qualitative assessments by senate members. According to documents obtained, the event is scheduled to take place at a hotel in Tompokersan, Lumajang, on 19–20 October 2026. Eight candidates are due to present their visions and missions.
“From the outset, the UIN KHAS Jember Student Senate has detected and strongly criticised the reckless steps taken in this rector selection process,” Oky said.
The student senate alleges fundamental flaws in the formation of the selection committee, which it says appeared haphazard and driven by vested interests. Oky also criticised the decision to hold the candidates’ presentations outside the campus.
“The clearest breach of the code of ethics, and one that undermines the principle of independence, is the inclusion of the Internal Supervisory Unit (SPI) in the committee. We are faced with a decision that makes no sense: the candidates’ vision and mission presentations have deliberately been moved away from students and made exclusive in Lumajang,” he said.
The UIN KHAS Jember Student Senate says it formally sent a written objection by email over the planned event in Lumajang, but the university did not heed it.
“However, our letter was treated as if it were nothing. They have knowingly silenced the space for student aspirations and betrayed the commitment to transparency,” he added.
The UIN KHAS Jember Student Senate set out the following positions:
It categorically rejects holding the rector candidates’ vision and mission presentations in Lumajang. It says the decision is anomalous and clearly violates the basic principles governing higher education, as stipulated in Article 6 of Law No. 12 of 2012 on Higher Education.
It says it will not allow the institution to be run by people it considers unethical. As a step to protect UIN KHAS Jember, the student senate will prepare and submit a formal report directly to the Minister of Religious Affairs. It says this is its moral responsibility as students, intended to help the minister conduct a comprehensive review and reach the fairest decision for the university’s future.
It says the action is intended to protect stability, integrity and the institution’s reputation. The senate says it will not allow the disorder and conflict that previously tarnished the name of Sunan Ampel State Islamic University (UINSA) Surabaya to spread to UIN KHAS Jember, which it attributes to the political ambitions of certain members of the selection committee.
The statement is described as a final warning. If the selection committee continues what the senate calls tyrannical and arbitrary conduct without a full review, it says it and other student groups are prepared to intensify their opposition. It says it will not hesitate to take to the streets, organise large-scale demonstrations and paralyse the bureaucracy to reclaim campus sovereignty.