Iranian Professor's Expulsion Sparks Student Outcry
Amid faculty suspensions for supporting student protests, Tehran’s Allameh University has formally terminated a renowned sociology professor.
Amid faculty suspensions for supporting student protests, Tehran’s Allameh University has formally terminated a renowned sociology professor.
After being issued with a "Collaboration Termination" letter, Dr. Mehdi Khoiee, a professor at the university for the past seven years, posted about the termination on his Instagram account. "I am left pondering where to channel my grievances against this glaring injustice,” he wrote
The termination follows a growing trend of academic staff being subject to punitive measures for their perceived association with student dissent.
Students from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the university voiced their outrage at his expulsion in an official statement, which drew attention to the mounting wave of dismissals ranging from student suspensions to the abrupt expulsion of committed faculty members like Dr Khoiee.
Moreover, the statement issued by the student body drew attention to the case of another academic, Professor Armin Amir, who met a similar fate due to his empathetic stance towards protesting students.
This incident is part of a broader pattern affecting the academic community, whereby educators from institutions across the country have faced suspension or expulsion due to their solidarity with the students' expression of dissent.
Student unions nationwide view these actions as part of a wider initiative to cleanse universities and criticize the regime for trying to dismantle a bastion of free inquiry and discourse.
