Date
Author
Виктория Козлова
Preserved copy
Translated material
Traditional values of a progressive university
The court rejected activist Varvara Mikhailova's claim against the Higher School of Economics.
The story of patriarchal traditions at the law faculty of the St. Petersburg HSE continued with legal proceedings. Last fall, the media, including federal ones, talked about how civil activist Varvara Mikhailova wanted to be elected head of the law faculty of the St. Petersburg branch of the Higher School of Economics, where she is receiving a second higher education. Then the faculty manager, Maxim Palamarchuk, announced that “by tradition” only men are appointed elders. In response to the girl’s indignation, Tatyana Alekseeva, who was then dean, stated that there was no gender discrimination in this, and advised Mikhailova to smile more. When the story became public, the university management promised to look into the ethical side of the customs of the St. Petersburg branch. As a result, the case ended in court, where on July 17, Mikhailova’s claim against the Higher School of Economics was rejected.
Warning, oxymoron
Varvara Mikhailova says that after the incident, she repeatedly tried to find out from Dean Alekseeva and the director of the branch, Sergei Kadochnikov, whether only men are really elected as elders: she wrote letters, tried to get an appointment. When, after the legal deadlines had passed, no one responded to the student’s appeals, she turned to the Admiralteysky District Prosecutor’s Office for a legal assessment of the dean’s silence. The prosecutor's office told the student that her rights were still violated. This letter and a piece of paper with the inscription “Attention, oxymoron: the dean of the law faculty is breaking the law!” Mikhailova posted it on faculty information stands several times, simultaneously highlighting her campaign on her Facebook page.
At the end of February, the university demanded an explanatory statement from the girl regarding the fact of violation of the internal regulations of the university. One of its points indicates that students are prohibited from posting information in places not designated for this purpose without permission from the faculty administration. A month later, Mikhailova received a document stating that the disciplinary commission had reprimanded her. The girl went to court with a demand to cancel the penalty and pay her moral compensation.
Systematic nature of violations
“Who authorized the audio recording?” – exclaimed HSE representative Alexander Bolokhonov, addressing Novaya correspondents at the beginning of the second court hearing. “The law,” we explained. It is worth noting that Bolokhonov, being the head of the legal department, was a member of the disciplinary commission that reprimanded the activist. According to the HSE representative, with her announcements Mikhailova sought to “psychologically influence the administration of the law school, thereby creating a PR opportunity for herself as a human rights activist.” The lawyer called the student’s advertisement itself art.
The parties did not agree on whether the faculty stands are a place intended for posting information.
The plaintiff’s defender, lawyer Viktor Vorobyov, pointed out numerous procedural errors in the procedure for bringing the student to disciplinary liability. HSE lawyer Bolokhonov responded to this by noting that the commission considered the girl’s previous and subsequent behavior, in particular the “systematic nature of the violations” and her posts on the Internet, where the student called the law school a “sexist swamp.”
Letters that don't exist
On Monday, July 17, the parties moved on to debate. The plaintiff invited the trial participants to imagine that her advertisements were about a lost textbook.
“Students post announcements on stands every day that are not directly related to the educational process. And they have never bothered the administration before,” Mikhailova said. According to the student, her actions became a gesture of desperation, the last legal way to gain the attention of the law school management: “The administration declared a complete boycott of me, refused to communicate with me both in writing and orally.”
Bolokhonov stated that Mikhailova’s appeals were considered collectively, and he saw with his own eyes the letters sent to her from the faculty leadership, moreover, he has copies. It is curious that these documents did not appear in the case file, which did not prevent the court from making a decision in favor of the university. The plaintiff and her representative intend to appeal the results to a higher authority.
There is no threat of reprisals
During the discussion of information stands, the starting point of the dispute between Mikhailova and the HSE was almost forgotten. “For me, the most important thing in this story is to get confirmation that there is no gender discrimination at the university,” the plaintiff explained to Novaya. “But now there is also the question of the right to disseminate information.” The activist emphasized that she insists that the dean’s office officially renounce its position on the gender identity of prefects at the faculty.
In a comment to Novaya, representatives of the defendant assured that HSE is a democratic university, where they respect the right of students to express their own opinions in any legal way, and the student is not threatened with any reprisals.
The press service of the St. Petersburg branch of the HSE confirmed that the official response from the deputy director to Mikhailova’s appeal was sent on February 2 to the email specified in the application. Director of the Center for Communications and Information Policy Elena Gruzinskaya said that the branch did not feel any reputational damage from the story with Mikhailova: “Of course, this is not the news that we would like to see, but this is an experience that needs to be lived through. In addition, we now have a new dean at the Faculty of Law. At the program where Varya is studying, elections for the headman were proposed, where everyone could nominate their candidacy. Discrimination is unacceptable here; this is one of the truths that HSE is fighting for.”
Press Secretary of the HSE Rector Sofya Vanyatkina explained to Novaya that on the Moscow campus there is a division between stands, some are intended for educational information, others for student announcements. There is no such thing at HSE in St. Petersburg, but with the permission of the administration, students can use the faculty board. Since it was not received, the student was reprimanded legally, they believe in Moscow. “Despite this, we will be very happy if Varya remains at HSE, we really love such students,” Vanyatkina said.