Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University students demand ‘elected’ rector, not ‘appointed’ one

Increasing numbers of students at the university have expressed anger at the candidacy of Vedat Akgiray, a professor and an executive MBA program director, on the grounds that his academic record is too poor for such a critical post.

“We ask for an elected rector, not an appointed one,” said the declaration.

“We believe the practice of having the rector in office through appointment, which has been in operation since the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup d’état, is not in line with our university’s democratic, pro-freedom and pluralist tradition. For this reason, we want the custom of candidates withdrawing if they do not come first in the ‘rectoral election process’ to continue,” it added.

Students have expressed concern about Akgiray’s repeated pronouncements about turning the university, one of Turkey’s most renowned higher education institutions, into an economically driven university.

Meanwhile, in a message posted in a group mailing list among professors, one dissident professor at Boğaziçi University has reportedly criticized Akgiray’s failure to vow to “respect to the free choices of lecturers who have been exerting efforts for their institution.”