Professor: If we allow a Faculty of Serbian Studies, we will soon have faculties of Serbian medicine, Serbian electronics, Serbian mechanical engineering, meaning a Serbian university

As a regular professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, I feel compelled to speak out against the Ministry of Education's misguided decision to revoke licenses for our Serbian studies, history, and Russian language and literature departments. This move, which aims to consolidate these disciplines under a new Faculty of Serbian Studies, is not just an administrative reshuffling; it's an attack on the very foundations of academic freedom and intellectual inquiry in Serbia.

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If we allow the Faculty of Serbian Studies, soon we will also have faculties of Serbian medicine, Serbian electronics, Serbian mechanical engineering, meaning we will get a Serbian university, and we all know what that means.

They accuse us of being anti-Serbian, a charge I find particularly galling. I am a veteran of the wars of the 1990s, a fact I mention not for validation, but to underscore that my commitment to Serbia is beyond question. My true wealth lies not in material possessions, but in my deep connection to this university, my students, and my colleagues. For 32 years, this faculty has been my home, and the people here my family. To see this home threatened, this family fractured, is unbearable. We will not stand idly by.

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They accuse us of being anti-Serbian.

Patriarch Pavle once said we cannot choose where or when we are born, but we can choose to be human. What is more human than defending one's home, one's family, one's very self? The Ministry's actions are not only illogical but deeply inhumane. They seek to dismantle departments that foster critical thinking and national heritage, replacing them with a narrow, nationalistic agenda. This is not how a healthy society or a robust academic institution functions.

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I am a war veteran from the wars of the 1990s.

While it is natural for younger generations to question and even rebel against their elders, it is fundamentally wrong for parents and elders to turn against their children. This is precisely what the Ministry is doing to its academic community. We will remember who stood for intellectual integrity and who chose to dismantle it. Our path is one of humanity, struggle, and remembrance. We will not forget.

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My one home is the one I live in with my wife and children. Another home of mine is the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš. I have lived at the faculty for 32 years and worked there for 27 years. My family are my students and my fellow professors.