Athens uni rector decries regime of tolerance for thugs

Andreas Boudouvis, rector of the National Technical University of Athens – as the Athens Polytechnic is now officially called – has decried what he described as the Greek state’s tolerance for the lawlessness in Greek universities in recent decades.

He made his remarks in an interview with the Greek edition of Kathimerini in the wake of last Friday’s vandalism on the university’s premises by a group of hooded thugs with hammers and spray paint, causing extensive damage. 

“In no other country in the world do universities suffer from similar, often recurring situations,” he said.

The answer as to why this occurs, he said, is “a peculiar regime of tolerance of extreme delinquency, manifested in universities on the part of the state, which has lasted for decades in our country.”

He rued that “we find it difficult to draw a clear line between academic freedom and its protection from its blatant violation.”