Student protestors in Hungary demand academic freedom for top arts University

<p>Several thousand students protested on Sunday for the independence of Hungary’s University of Theatre and Film Arts following what they see as a takeover of their school by the autocratic government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.</p> <p>Protestors took to the university’s various buildings holding signs saying, “We stand for the freedom of our university.”</p> <p>On Monday, many members of the school’s management resigned in protest, which included many of Hungary’s most famous directors and filmmakers.</p> <p>One demonstrator, Marta Barbarics commented saying, “if a university cannot teach in a way as its citizens deem appropriate then there are serious problems and the leadership of a university does not quit for no reason.”</p> <p>However, many of Prime Minister Orban’s supporters have long argued that it was time for a culture shift away from what they call the domination of the arts in Hungary by liberals and left-wingers.</p> <p>Many of the protestors were angered at Prime Minister Orban's new legislation which imposed a government-appointed board to the university forcing the university to hew more closely to Orban’s nationalistic and conservative vision for Hungary.</p> <p>70 to 100 student protestors have barricaded the university building stating they would not dismantle their barricade until the university’s new board meet their demands for institutional autonomy.</p> <p>Read more from the <a href="http://https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/06/world/europe/hungary-students…">New York Times </a>and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-politics-education-theatre/h…">Reuters</a></p>