Dear Friends and Colleagues,
You may have heard about the sad events of recent days involving the assault on Central European University by the current Hungarian government. Yesterday [April 4, 2017] the Hungarian parliament passed a law clearly directed against CEU, which, if not amended, will make it impossible for the university to continue to operate in Hungary. I received both an MA and Ph.D. from CEU in Medieval Studies. My dissertation was dedicated to Origen and Augustine, which has become basis of my book Origen’s Influence on the Young Augustine. It is in large part because of that book that I am a participant in our important EU-project (http://itn-humanfreedom.eu/). I feel an obligation to express my gratitude toward CEU, which is one of the best universities in Hungary, in fact the best university in Hungary. CEU was established by György Soros in Budapest about 25 years ago. Although Mr. Soros promotes a liberal political ideology that I often disagree with, I never experienced any ideological pressure at CEU or any sort of discrimination due to my identity as a Christian or my conservative political ideas. CEU is famous for its academic quality and its many academic relationships both in Hungary and around the world. I am deeply saddened by the actions of the current Hungarian government, and I wish to inform you that I distance myself from them completely.