A four-hour meeting held behind closed doors between the Rectors opened up all the burning issues and recorded strong disagreements. The atmosphere was described as “electric” and at the conclusion of the session”they agreed to disagree”, as underlined. The Rectors’ reactions to the supportive attitude of the Minister of Education, Sofia Zacharaki, and the Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Nikos Papaioannou, were particularly positive.

Two major issues dominated the Rectors’ Conference: the security of universities and the deletion of the so-called “eternal” students.

On the issue of university security, the debate was tense as there were rectors who tried to downplay the problem in an attempt to avoid damaging the prestige of the institutions they represent. Some even went so far as to blame the state and the police “for not going in to catch them”, as they put it.

The disagreement escalated when they then tried to shift the discussion from the security issue to that of underfunding the universities.

According to reliable reports, while the majority of the rectors argued that the “armouring” of universities against vandalism and violent events must be solved immediately by activating disciplinary councils and by improvements in the law – “the minister’s position was very correct, who said that she will make interventions so that those who have first degree convictions, at least for a period of time, their student status will be suspended, for two years that is… We have such people in the universities,” they commented – a portion of rectors did not want the issue of violence to take further dimensions: “The problem does not have the extent that it is coming out, it is decreasing”, they claimed.

Moreover, these Rectors insisted that “all those people in helmets and hoods are not students”. This fact was reportedly disputed by the Rector of the Aristotle University, Charalambos Fidas, saying that in reality, 70% of those who commit violence at the Aristotle University are students and only 30% are not related to the field. He did not hesitate to suggest that organizations that exhibit such criminal behavior should be outlawed so that “we can get rid of them once and for all.”

Most of the Rectors not only sided with Fidas but said that they themselves, their colleagues or students who have a different opinion, are being terrorized and directly threatened. “Such of extreme students – or not – are everywhere – in Athens, in Thessaloniki, in Komotini, in Heraklion, in Chania, in Patra, in Ioannina and elsewhere,” it said.

As for the next steps on the part of the Rectors, it was noted that – where they do not already exist – the preparation of safety plans is underway, impact studies are being carried out. In some universities, the regulation for the operation of the entire video system is currently being prepared, with the installation ready and waiting “just waiting for the cameras to ‘click’ into place, while in other universities, they are already in operation”.

The need to boost funding for security at universities is seen as urgent. Currently, the total funding of €10 million for this purpose is assessed by the Rectors as ‘insufficient’, as there are thousands of acres of land and thousands of square meters of buildings that need to be guarded. Also, the available funds are not sufficient for the guards – for example, for about 60 guards, who take turns in shifts to guard an entire university, the cost is about 1,200,000 euros per year. Result? Not even 50% of the needs are covered. “Improvements are needed in the law on guarding”, the rectors conclude.

As for whether the question of reinstating the university police was raised in the discussion, the Rectors answer in the negative. However, overwhelmingly, they agree that there is a need to activate the police: “Let the police enter the university campus normally, to patrol. The police should be allowed to enter the university in regular patrols, to be preventive. Besides, the police don’t need to get permission to enter any campus,” they say.

And those who have long disagreed with this for purely ideological reasons, after the recent university riots, “remained silent and did not take a stand on this,” say academic circles, adding that the stance chosen by these people was “to diminish the magnitude of the problem”. “They are the ones who prefer to play the ‘good guy’ to have ‘peace of mind’ by allowing extremist organisations to do what they want inside universities,” they note.

About student expulsions

On the issue of student expulsions, disagreements among the rectors have subsided. In particular, they were in favour of giving a time extension to active students who are close to completing their studies and not losing their degree for a few courses they owe. For the rest, it is preferred to apply the expulsion, as the law stipulates.

During the discussion among the rectors, however, they refrained from specifying both the criteria by which students will be evaluated as “active” and the percentages of the courses due, throwing the “ball” to the Ministry of Education to define the relevant framework.

In any case, it is expected that the number of courses will be around 20% to 25% of the total, which in fact will correspond to one year of the four-year undergraduate cycle. It was also suggested that the regulation to be introduced by the ministry should not be linked to a specific deadline but should have a projection in the future, so that similar cases that will arise are covered and the problem is not repeated. The Minister also agreed with this proposal.

On what other issue did the Rectors disagree

The rectors found themselves in “opposing camps” regarding the issue of the change of the system of electing the administrations in universities.

Some openly expressed their disagreements, arguing that it is better to leave it as it is, while the majority of the members of the Synod believe that changes, corrections or improvements should be introduced – a fact with which the Deputy Minister of Education, responsible for higher education, Nikolaos Papaioannou, agreed, according to reliable sources.

To sum up, despite the intense atmosphere that prevailed at the Rectors’ Meeting, the Minister of Education appeared to be completely satisfied, because the discussions that took place were substantial, open and, by extension, very enlightening, as she had the opportunity to fully understand what is happening in the academic landscape of the country.