Editorial: The self-evident

The judiciary did the obvious. The head of the lower court prosecutor’s office ordered a preliminary investigation of incidents of violence at universities, which Ta Nea reported on in a front-page story, just three days ago.

The time has also come for the government to do the self-evident as well.

It must ensure that from now on universities operate in such a manner as to be able to carry out their crucial role, which is of supreme importance.

It is the government’s responsibility to rid universities of the lawless environment in which they are forced to operate, and to relieve them of the concomitant lack of academic freedom.

It is inconceivable in an academic environment, which exists to promote the free exchange of ideas, for those who serve it to fall prey to theft, robbery, sexual assault, or even to dynamic minorities which wish to impose their views with violence.

It is self-evident, and it should have been so for the government, that Greek universities must not continue to constitute the pitiful exception to the universal principle that universities are an oasis of study and dialogue, and not for drug dealing, or other forms of lawlessness.

It is equally obvious that Ta Nea will continue its investigative reporting on an issue that does not concern only professors and university students. It concerns all of society.