Professors: Students’ demands are our demands

According to an N1 reporter, the professors expressed their intent to officially stand by the students.

Over 1,600 signatures of faculty members and researchers at universities and scientific institutes in Belgrade were collected in a very short time, in support of the “University in Rebellion” initiative.

“We have also received support from the Free University in Novi Sad, and from colleagues at other academic institutions across Serbia. The support we have received from our students for the University in Rebellion initiative is especially important to us,” the participants of the Monday’s gathering said.

Professors and assistant professors, teaching assistants, associates, researchers and students stood together in solidarity on Monday. They were joined by employees from the University of Arts in Belgrade, private universities, faculties, and scientific institutes.

The crowd observed 15 minutes of silence in memory of the 15 victims of the November 1 collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad main train station.

Petar Bencina, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, read a joint statement from the University in Rebellion initiative, noting that the students’ demands are also their (professors’) demands, and added that “university employees are not silent.”

“Seeking a way to actively participate in the growing and intensifying shared struggle, the need for university employees to unite more firmly and act together has matured.

This is how our voice will reach those who have thought until now that this was just a student protest, with us, their educators, merely offering formal support. Until now, we have acted within our own faculties and research institutions. That is no longer enough. This can’t just be a student protest and a student issue.

The unity, seriousness, and wisdom displayed by the students have convinced us that we should learn from them. The students have set this whole society in motion. For this cause, they are sacrificing not only their time but also their safety, which is becoming increasingly threatened. As they say at every rally, students will not be silent, and we, their professors, say - university employees will not be silent. We will not accept threats against our students, nor will we tolerate anyone trampling or beating them. They are the future pillars of this society. If you threaten them, you threaten us. If you beat them, you beat us. If you trample them, you trample us.

The students’ demands are our demands. Fulfill them and stop endangering the youth and future of this society, and stop belittling the entire academic community. We are neither asleep nor indifferent. We are a university in rebellion in rebellious Serbia.”