This is the result of the appointment of a new and restrictive rector. By order of the new rector, Kadri Özçaldıran, female students wearing headscarves are no longer permitted to enter the university.
Özçaldıran began his term at the university on Monday, the start of the fall semester. "The rector's first action was to prohibit headscarved women from setting foot on the university campus. English proficiency exams, which all students must pass in order to be able to enroll in classes, were held two weeks ago. The exams unofficially mark the start of the semester. Students wearing headscarves were not allowed in, and their access is being curtailed more and more every day," Mustafa Emin, a student at the university, told Today's Zaman.
When headscarved students were refused entry, their male and non-headscarved friends began gathering in front of the university's main entrance at 9 a.m. on Monday as classes were to begin.
“We waited until around 1 p.m., but no explanation came from the rector. He refused to talk to us,” Z. S. a non-headscarved student, said.
Z. S. also noted that students were surprised by new measures that were instituted. “We were shocked when security came with papers to be signed by headscarved students. The rector wanted every headscarved student to sign a paper that read ‘I accept all legal responsibility resulting from my entrance into the university while wearing a headscarf.’ Several students signed the paper since this was their first day at the university. They are unaware of the consequences,” Z. S. said.
Saying that they had never before been treated in this manner, Şeymanur Ekren, a headscarved student, said: “Security showed us a paper and said we can only enter if we sign the paper. Some said we’d be charged if we signed, so we chose not to. We were completely shocked.”
Another student, Zeynep Çalışkan, said security humiliated her. “They don’t have the right to treat us like that. They insulted us. They cannot treat us like that or insult us, even if the headscarf is forbidden at universities.” After entering the university, the crowd walked down to the main part of the campus, protesting the rector’s move. The students chose to ignore the decision of the rector and attend class wearing headscarves on the first and second day of the new semester.
This is a first for Boğaziçi, graduates say
Boğaziçi University Reunion Association (BURA) ex-Chairman Aydın Akkoç said his class did not suffer from such problems. He attended Boğaziçi University between 1989 and 1995. “As far as I know, this is the first time that students were forced to sign a paper like this and were not allowed in the university with headscarves on,” he said.
Akkoç further said when Özçaldıran was first appointed to the post, he said he did not want the university’s name to be tarnished by negative developments. “But he did just that the first chance he got [by restricting freedom]. The rectorate caused this chaos at the university,” he added.
The current chairman of BURA, Osman Eroğlu, said the restrictions do not befit the university’s fame, adding that these problems will be addressed and the university will return to its previous state. “Our university has a democratic structure, and everyone can say what s/he thinks without any reservations. Everyone respects one another. We were not expecting such a decision by the rector,” he said, stressing that restrictive implementations cannot survive in the university and that this situation will not last for long.
‘Even Feb. 28 was freer’
Saliha Demirer, a Boğaziçi graduate who studied at the university from 1995 to 2000, said she was one of the students who wore a headscarf but that she did not encounter any problems. The years in which Demirer studied are particularly important because the post-modern coup of Feb. 28, 1997, in which the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of the Welfare Party (RP), took place.
“We were never turned away from the entrance of the university even during the coup years. Some professors clearly stated that they did not want headscarved students in their classes, however; no one ever prevented us from entering the university,” she told Today’s Zaman. Demirer further said problems can be resolved if both sides are willing to reach a solution.
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