SENATE SAID “NO,” MINISTRY SAID “YES”: Faculty of Serbian Studies nevertheless becomes the 15th member of the University of Niš!

After the Senate did not “give the green light” to the Faculty of Serbian Studies, the Ministry of Education added it to the University of Niš. Bypassing all academic procedures, N1’s sources claim, the faculty whose establishment is being pushed by the state has been declared the 15th member of the institution — by the force of political power. The Rectorate has so far declined to comment to N1. The Ministry of Education, the administration of the Faculty of Philosophy, and the new Faculty of Serbian Studies have done the same.

At a session of the Senate of the University of Niš exactly one week ago, there were not enough votes to admit the Faculty of Serbian Studies into the institution.

Despite this, the Ministry of Education is not giving up. Several days later, the newspaper “Politika” published its findings: “Faculty of Serbian Studies becomes the 15th member of the University of Niš.” Although the relevant ministry did not issue a statement, journalist Ljubica Jocić had no doubt whatsoever that the information was accurate.

“Because ‘Politika’ was the first to report when the Government decided to establish the Faculty of Serbian Studies by splitting up the Faculty of Philosophy, and also because it was the first to report when the Ministry of Education granted it an operating license. All of this indicates that everything ‘Politika’ says is a message from the state leadership through its media outlet,” journalist Ljubica Jocić said, N1 reports.

DAN ODLUKE U HAGU: Tačiju, Veseljiju, Seljimiju i Krasnićiju danas se izriče prvostepena presuda!

The text, however, does not mention the temporary measure issued by the Administrative Court, because of which the “Serbian Studies” program did not enroll students this year. The measure was issued after the Faculty of Philosophy initiated proceedings, and it means that everything remains as it was until the proceedings are concluded.

“This is a direct violation of the law. It is like someone, without your knowledge or consent, registering several people at the address of your apartment, who would then acquire certain rights from that,” says Milan Videnović of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš.

He says they have confirmation that the letter they learned about from the media has reached the University, but they still do not know how it will affect the work of the Faculty of Philosophy. They do know that they have not received their salaries for two months because the Ministry of Education has not approved the funds — as long as they do not amend the faculty’s statute and give up three departments.

“There is no Constitution, there are no laws. We are the Constitution and the laws. That is what they are telling us and the citizens; they are becoming the rules and they are imposing restrictions on others,” Videnović says.

The authorities announced that they would open a new faculty by splitting up the Faculty of Philosophy immediately after the student blockades, which were supported by the majority of employees, ended. The authorities simply informed them — the operating license for three departments and eight study programs was being revoked.

Together with professors and students from Serbian Studies, History, and the Russian Language program, they are moving to the new faculty, where identity studies will be developed. However, because of the court’s temporary measure, these studies are still being “developed” at the Faculty of Philosophy.