Dean of Fine Arts at University of Peloponnese Resigns

The Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Peloponnese has resigned, expressing strong opposition to the student deletion policy. Professor of the Department of Theatre Studies, Giannis Leontaris, accompanies the resignation with a public statement analyzing the pedagogical, social, and political dimensions of the issue.

In his statement, Mr. Leontaris states that the deletion measure is authoritarian, scientifically unsubstantiated, pedagogically unacceptable, and socially unjust. He considers it a political act with a class bias, undemocratic, and offensive to the public university.

He points out that more than three hundred students have already been deleted from the Department of Theatre Studies, and refers to cases of students who work or have families and cannot meet the time limits set by the new law.

Mr. Leontaris emphasizes that access to knowledge is a constitutionally guaranteed right and cannot be subject to arbitrary time restrictions. He believes that the deletion measure targets the very existence of free, public access to knowledge.

Finally, he states that his institutional role as Dean brings him face to face with a matter of conscience, as he is called upon to oversee the implementation of a measure that opposes his academic and social beliefs.