119 academics stand with CEU in battle with Hungarian government

Worldwide support for CEU

More than 150 prominent European and American economists, including Presidents of European Economic Associations and 14 Nobel Prize Laureates, have signed an open letter on Friday, asking Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government to withdraw legislation that would force CEU to shut down its operations in Budapest.

The planned legislation, the parliamentary debate of which was brought forward to next Monday from Wednesday, sparked outcry in the academic community. Those who raised their voice against it include the U.S. Department of State, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United States to Budapest David Kostelancik, László Lovász, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Albert-László Barabási, a Romanian-born Hungarian-American physicist, best known for his work in the research of network theory, András Lanczi, Rector of Corvinus University, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth.

Open Letter to the Government of Hungary

“We are a group of North American social scientists and historians who have spent our careers researching Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. We consider ourselves to be friends of the people and countries of the region and have been inspired by the changes that have taken place since 1989.

“In recent days we have been dismayed by the proposed legislation that would threaten to close Central European University. While phrased as a general set of regulations, the provisions affect only one university in the country. This subterfuge fools no one.

“Central European University is a world-class institution that makes major contributions to the disciplines in which we work. It would be folly to close it on those grounds. But the issues at stake here are larger, specifically the universal human rights of freedom of expression and conscience. These are values for which generations of Hungarians fought and even perished in 1848, 1956, and 1989.

“Politicians in democracies when they assume power must be prepared to bear criticism and face the prospect of eventually losing power. The seeming desire of the Hungarian government to silence criticism and drive all alternatives from the field of political competition is short-sighted and contrary to those values. We will make the reasons for our consternation known to our own elected representatives, governments, and the public at large.

“We thus declare our opposition to the proposed punitive legislation and express our full solidarity with the Rector, students, employees, and faculty of Central European University.

(Listed alphabetically by last name)

• Farrell Ackerman, Director, Human Development Program, Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of California-San Diego
• Hilary Appel, Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College
• Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory, New School for Social Research
• Mark R. Beissinger, Henry W. Putnam Professor of Politics, Princeton University
• Zsuzsa Berend, Department of Sociology, University of California-Los Angeles
• Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
• Nancy Bermeo, PIIRS Senior Scholar and Professor of Politics Emerita, Princeton University
• Michael Bernhard, Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Florida
• Jack Bielasiak, Professor, Department of Political Science, Indiana University
• Gavril Bilev, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Merrimack College
• Frank Biess, Professor of History, University of California-San Diego
• Melissa Bokovoy, Chair and Professor of History, University of New Mexico
• Cristina Bradatan, Associate professor of Sociology, Texas Tech University
• David L. Brown, International Professor of Development Sociology, Cornell University
• Chad Bryant, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Rogers Brubaker, Professor of Sociology and UCLA Foundation Chair, University of California-Los Angeles
• Yitzhak M. Brudny, Jay and Leonie Darwin Chair in Soviet and Eastern European Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Valerie Jane Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Professor of International Studies and Professor of Government at Cornell University
• Michael Burawoy, Professor of Sociology, University of California-Berkeley
• Lenka Bustikova, Assistant Professor of Political Science, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
• Holly Case, Associate Professor of History, Brown University
• Nitsan Chorev, Harmon Family Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Daniel Czitrom, Professor of History, Mount Holyoke College
• Thomas J. Csordas, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Dr. James Y. Chan Presidential Chair in Global Health, University of California-San Diego
• Jane Leftwich Curry, Professor of Political Science, Santa Clara University
• Istvan Deak, Seth Low Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University
• Kevin Deegan-Krause, Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University
• Grzegorz Ekiert, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government and Director Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
• Gil Eyal, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
• Barbara J Falk, Associate Professor, Canadian Forces College
• Melissa Feinberg, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University
• Carole Fink, Humanities Distinguished Professor of History Emerita, The Ohio State University
• Evgeny Finkel, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Benjamin Frommer, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University
• Timothy Frye, Chair, Department of Political Science, Marshall Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Politics, Columbia University
• Venelin I. Ganev, Professor of Political Science, Miami University of Ohio
• Eagle Glassheim, Associate Professor of History, University of British Columbia
• Jeffrey C. Goldfarb, Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology, New School for Social Research
• Paul Goode, Senior Lecturer in Russian Politics, University of Bath
• Emily Greble, Associate Professor of History and East European Studies, Vanderbilt University
• Anna Grzymala-Busse, President of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies, Stanford University
• Henry E. Hale, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Paul Hanebrink, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University
• S. Mohsin Hashim, Professor of Political Science, Director, Dana Honors Program, Muhlenberg College
• Robert M. Hayden, Professor of Anthropology and Law, University of Pittsburgh
• Marc M. Howard, Professor of Government and Law, Georgetown University
• Aida Hozic, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Jeffrey C. Isaac, James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
• John Ishiyama, University Distinguished Professor, University of North Texas
• Wade Jacoby, Mary Lou Fulton Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University
• Krzysztof Jasiewicz, Ames Professor in Sociology and Anthropology, Washington and Lee University, Co-Editor, East European Politics and Societies
• Alison Frank Johnson, Professor of History, Harvard University
• Juliet Johnson, Professor of Political Science, McGill University
• Ekrem Karakoc, Associate Professor of Political Science, Binghamton University
• Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University
• Rüçhan Kaya, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University
• R. Daniel Kelemen, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University
• Michael D. Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Padraic Kenney, Chair, Department of International Studies, Professor of History and International Studies, Indiana University
• Jeremy King, Professor of History, Mount Holyoke college
• Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science, Duke University
• Rebekah Klein-Pej¹ová, Associate Professor of History, Purdue University
• Jeffrey Kopstein, Professor of Political Science, University of California-Irvin
• Petia Kostadinova, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois, Chicago
• Markus Kreuzer, Professor of Political Science, Villanova University
• Jan Kubik, Director, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London
• Anita Kurimay, Assistant Professor of History, Bryn Mawr College
• Mark Kramer, Director of Cold War Studies, Harvard University
• Amie Kreppel, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Elena Krumova, Lecturer, Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University
• Dragan Kujundzic, Professor, Center for Jewish Studies, University of Florida
• Martha Lampland, Professor of Sociology and Science Studies, University of California-San Diego
• Katherine Lebow, Associate Professor of History, Christ Church, Oxford University
• Anthony Levitas, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Isabela Mares, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
• Kyle L. Marquardt, Postdoctoral research fellow, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Michael McFaul, Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Professor, Department of Political Science, Stanford University
• Kelly McMann, Associate Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University
• John S. Micgiel, Visiting Professor, East European Studies Center, University of Warsaw
• Bryon Moraski, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Alexander Motyl, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University-Newark
• Cas Mudde, Associate Professor, School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), University of Georgia, Co-editor, European Journal of Political Research
• Harris Mylonas, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Norman Naimark, McDonnell Professor of East European Studies, Stanford University
• Conor O’Dwyer, Associate Professor of Political Science and European Studies, University of Florida
• Mitchell A Orenstein, Professor, Russian and East European Studies and Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
• David Ost, 2010-2015 Joseph DiGangi Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Cynthia Paces, Professor of History, The College of New Jersey
• Susan C. Pearce, Associate Professor of Sociology, East Carolina University
• Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University
• Grigore Pop-Eleches, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
• Graeme Robertson, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina
• Akos Rona-Tas, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of California-San Diego
• Marsha Rozenblit, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Jewish History, University of Maryland
• Peter Rutland, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University
• Daniel Schlafly, Professor of History, Director, Russian and East European Area Studies Program, Saint Louis University
• Philippe Schmitter, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, European University Institute and Stanford University
• Edward Schatz, Associate Professor and Department Chair, University of Toronto, Mississauga
• Richard Scher, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, University of Florida
• Marci Shore, Associate Professor of History, Yale University
• David Stark, Arthur Lehman Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
• Anna Seleny, Professor of the Practice of International Politics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
• Regina Smyth, Associate Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
• Hillel David Soifer, Associate Professor of Political Science, Temple University
• Jelena Subotic, Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University
• Milan Svolik, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University
• Anna Szemere, Independent Scholar and Educator
• Vera Tabakova, Associate Professor of Economics, East Carolina University
• Sidney Tarrow, Maxwell Upson Professor of Government Emeritus, Cornell University
• Joshua Tucker, Professor of Politics and Director, Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, New York University
• Hubert Tworzecki, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emory University
• Daniel Unowsky, Professor of History, University of Memphis
• Milada Anna Vachudova, Jean Monnet Chair in EU Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Lucan Way, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
• Catherine Wanner, Professor of History and Anthropology, Penn State University
• Steven Lloyd Wilson, Research Fellow, Varieties of Democracy Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Nancy M. Wingfield, Presidential Research Professor, Northern Illinois University
• Sharon L. Wolchik, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University
• Susan L. Woodward, Professor of Political Science, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York"

• Tags:
• economy,
• viktor orbán,
• education,
• central european university,
• ceu