The university, due to its inherent nature – which is avant-garde and influential – has always been coveted; whether by the government or the opposition. The government tries to control it and use it for its own benefit. However, its rebellious and critical nature stands against it and always pays the price for it without hesitation. The passion and inner belief of the students serve the expansion of civil society, not an alliance with power.

From the beginning of the revolution until now, what events and storms it has not gone through. From the cultural revolution to the university incidents and protests of 88, its activities have always been under attack and continue to be so. Despite all of this, the university has always been accompanied by civility. It has stood alone many times, but it defended what it knew was right, stood tall, resisted, and rushed to its own aid. Perhaps the secret to its resilience is nothing but this.

In different governments after the revolution, various methods with high and low quality were implemented to control it. Punitive measures were enforced and used when necessary.

The term “starred” took on a different color and scent in the ninth government. Whether the reform government had a role in its formulation and whether this tool was used for suppression is not our topic here. The clear issue is that before the ninth government, disciplinary committees would punish student activists by suspending or expelling them from university or dormitories. But the ninth government took it a step further and by bringing in security forces to the university, it updated the discussion on being “starred”. This means that by reviewing the student’s situation in the previous level and checking with security institutions, they would prevent them from continuing their education at a higher level. Of course, they did not stop at this and also intensified disciplinary suppressions at that level. This means that with the approval of security officials, they would suspend or expel students. So much so that in one semester, we are faced with the expulsion of 30 students from just one university.

During the 1988 election process, a group of students formed a council called “Council for the Defense of the Right to Education” and opposed the continuation of this process. Mehdi Karoubi, at that time, supported the council and stated that not only should these students return to the university, but they should also be compensated for their lost rights. The efforts of the ninth government to turn the right to education into a privilege were questioned and debated, and this position was recognized as an undeniable right for society.

Currently, many active student activists who were becoming stars due to their activities have been deprived and expelled due to their religious tendencies. Unfortunately, there is no accurate statistics on the number of these deprivations, but this trend continues to exist.

With this overall background, a few noteworthy points will be mentioned:

1- According to the law, education is a right and no one can deprive individuals of it. Even a prisoner sentenced to death can continue their education under certain conditions. Any obstacle to education for individuals is a clear violation of the law. Converting a right into a privilege (as mentioned before) gives the government the power to revoke this privilege at any time and in any way possible, and every day it restricts more and more people from pursuing education.

In general, every individual can pursue education without any obstacles, regardless of their political or religious beliefs, and creating limitations in this regard is considered a violation of the law.

2- When the possibility arises for security institutions to enter the university, express their opinions and enforce them, the sanctity of the university has been violated. Security institutions, including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards, have no right to interfere in the university, but now we see that they are being questioned for their entry, continuation of studies, etc. When we talk about securing the university, this is what we mean: unlimited interference by security forces.

In December 2017, it was reported that multiple cases were filed against student activists and the Ministry of Intelligence considered their arrests as a preventive measure. It is unclear what they were trying to prevent, but this clear interference and the numerous cases led to many students being sentenced to long-term imprisonment in court. And this process continues…

3- When governments understand that they are being hit by time to silence the voice; at that time when they close the window of criticism and block the path of reform. When they use various restrictive tools to prevent individuals from obtaining education, they will silence the poor in one way, the wealthy in another way, the working class for any reason, and the political activists for any excuse, and by securing the space – especially the university space – they prevent dialogue and even debate, and by turning every right into a privilege, they control the space according to their own claims; this suffocation will one day lead to chaos and there will be no language to speak and no ear to hear.