Universities in Search of Emancipation

UGC's draft regulations have a few inclusive ideas that are laudable. But they miss the chance of loosening the grip of both governments and corporates over our universities

- KALEESWARAM RAJ

In April 1969, students at Harvard University protested the American war in Vietnam. It was a gesture of defiance against the regime that went beyond the campus. The next university president, Derek Bok, who assumed office in 1971, talked about the social commitment of modern universities in his seminal work, Beyond the Ivory Tower. It highlighted the importance of academic independence and political neutrality in universities.

Universities are, ultimately, centers of truth and knowledge. They are also important markers of resistance against the arbitrary use of power. In the field of science, too, universities are to serve humanity beyond territorial limits. Hence, academic freedom at universities has a direct link to a country's democracy. The cerebral ecosystem of a nation is often created and maintained by the free exchange of ideas in the higher education system.

Universities teach us to question, criticize and analyze the system we live in. They motivate us to dream of a better tomorrow for ourselves and our world. In an essay, scholars Emily Chamlee-Wright and Bradley Jackson said, "If universities are to have a future as cornerstone institutions of a free society, they must assert their role as caretakers of the liberal project."