GITIS students protest against the rector. Why?

On December 21, it became known that the rector of the Russian Institute of Theater Arts - GITIS selected in November 2016, Grigory Zaslavsky is going to unite the production and theater faculties. The leadership of the Faculty of Theater, many teachers and students of GITIS were not informed about this; When they learned about the planned reform, they spoke out against the union. Students and teachers sent an open letter to Zaslavsky, and Theatrav students arranged a rally performance in the courtyard of the university. After that, Zaslavsky agreed to repeatedly convene a scientific council and once again discuss the merger of the faculties. "Medusa" tells why the rector decided to unite theaters with producers and why many do not like it.

On December 20, a meeting of the Academic Council of GITIS was held, at which it was decided to unite two of the eight faculties of the university: producer and theater. The question was made to the discussion by the rector Grigory Zaslavsky - the members of the Council attended at the meeting voted. Those who were absent at the Council - for example, the leadership of the Theater Faculty, including the dean of Natalya Pivovarova (she is in the hospital after the accident), and students of the theater institute - learned about reorganization only the next day, December 21.

Commenting on Tassu his decision to unite faculties, the rector of Zaslavsky (he headed the university in November 2016) explained that today most of the festivals are supervised by theatrical critics - which means that they may come in handy for knowledge of the production. Medusa Grigory Zaslavsky said that in this way he wants to bring Russian theater studies from the crisis: “The crisis was recognized by everyone, I try to solve it in this way, maybe very sharp, although it is very delicate.” The rector also said that the united faculties will have one dean. “This is not a merger, not a matter, not some kind of reform. People both studied and will study, we’ll just adjust some programs, ”Zaslavsky explained.

The Dean of the Theater Faculty, Natalya Pivovarova, called on colleagues and students publicly "protest against the initiative of the rector and the decision of the Academic Council." She told Medusa that the “fundamental question of GITIS restructuring” was not even entered into the main agenda of the academic council, but appeared in the section “Miscellaneous”. “No one knew that this day would be decided,” Meduza said Pivovarova.

On December 22, students and teachers of GITIS wrote an open letter to the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, chairman of the Union of Theater Workers Alexander Kalyagin and rector Zaslavsky, in which they asked to clarify the situation with the unification of the faculties. The letter was signed by more than 1,100 students, teachers and figures of theatrical art. The authors of the letter noted that the rector was not observed one of the points of the charter of the university - that "students have the right to participate in the discussion and resolving the most important issues of GITIS." They explained that the production faculty is preparing the organizers and managers, and the theater - scientists, and demanded a repeated convocation of the academic council - for open discussion. Many of them believe that the union will lead to the actual destruction of the Theater Faculty.

The Ministry of Culture supported the rector’s decision. First Deputy Minister of Culture, Vladimir Aristarchkhov, said that “the rector knows better how to organize the educational process,” and also called Zaslavsky a “wonderful leader”, who “is better than students understand the situation and knows how to act.”

The next day, December 23, students of the Theater Faculty staged a rally of a performance in the courtyard of GITIS. They silently stood opposite the university building, fencing themselves with a white and red ribbon, while students of the director's faculty read out the charter of GITIS from the third floor of the institute. The rector’s secretary urged students to disperse and threatened to call the police. One of the students of the Theater Faculty told Medusa that the police car really arrived, but no actions were taken against the students.

The rector said he did not know about the campaign of students. He also told reporters that the dean of Pivovarova would leave his post due to the support of student protests. In addition to the performance, as Meduza told the Student of the Theater Faculty, the students conducted an Italian strike - they came to the institute, but refused to study.

Pivovarova herself told Medusa that she did not approve: “I wrote to them that this is not quite the correct move, because, without going to the exams, you are protesting against your teachers and faculty. But they simply did not know how to initiate a conversation with the rector, who calls the police to his students and threatens deductions. ” As for his possible dismissal, Pivovarova believes that it is not difficult to stop cooperation with her - contracts are renewed with the entire teaching staff of the university. “I am not his [Zaslavsky] team, I do not support the cultural policy that is based on Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality,” said Pivovarova “Medusa”.

After the protest campaign, Zaslavsky promised to resume the discussion of the faculties association, convene a new training council and leave Pivovarov as dean. In an interview with Medusa, Zaslavsky said that he would not “force the process of unification of the faculties”, despite the fact that the corresponding order has already come out. “The unification process will go after a second discussion if they vote for it again,” the rector said.

Natalya Pivovarova suggests that the rector compromised, because "the authorities do not need a scandal with students." “Perhaps it was someone who told him to do this from above. They are very worried when students protest, ”said Pivovarova“ Medusa ”.

Sasha Sulim