Dear President Áder,
I am writing on behalf of many of my colleagues, whose names follow this letter, to express solidarity with Central European University and express concern regarding Bill T/14686 amending the Hungarian Higher Education Act and accepted by the Hungarian Parliament on April 4, 2017.
We respectfully urge you to refrain from signing the Bill, which raises significant legal and constitutional concerns, and instead to refer it to the Constitutional Court of Hungary. We share the concern of thousands of Hungarians, who demonstrate on the streets and in social media, that the new legislation limits the right to education and freedom of research and academic life. Specifically, it discriminates and targets foreign higher educational institutions by requiring them to open an unnecessary campus outside of Hungary. (This part particularly targets Central European University.) It also breaches law-making procedures: the legislation was adopted in a visibly rushed procedure and without consultation with the affected parties, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference, as entitled under law.
In our opinion, Central European University is one of Hungary’s most precious treasures. Many of us, US academics, are familiar with the work of Hungarian scholars because of CEU. Over the last 25 years we have learned much about Hungary thanks to the activity of our CEU colleagues, students, and alumni. I can speak of CEU from personal experience as a guest instructor at the Department of Medieval Studies. CEU is not a “Soros University,” it is a genuine Hungarian University, which professes freedom of thought, promotes Hungarian culture at home and abroad, and showcases the best that the Hungarian academy has to offer. Please do not let this treasure be taken from Hungary and become a victim of ideological disagreements in political and economic circles.
My colleagues and I urge you to act on your Presidential right and send the Bill to the Constitutional Court of Hungary where it can be reviewed to protect the renowned tradition of Hungarian academic life and preserve its autonomy and freedom.
Sincerely Yours,
Julia Verkholantsev
Associate Professor, Undergraduate Chair, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pennsylvania