HSE University deprives DOXA of the status of a student organization

HSE University deprives DOXA of the status of a student organization. This means that we will not be able to carry out our activities at the Higher School of Economics

Our sources reported that the Council of the Foundation for Support of Student Initiatives of the Higher School of Economics is now voting on depriving our journal of the status of a student organization. This will mean that we will not be able to carry out our activities within the walls of the HSE. According to our information, rector Yaroslav Kuzminov has already voted to revoke his status.

The voting procedure to ban our activities at HSE was initiated at the request of RSSU Rector Natalya Pochinok. She complained about a DOXA publication about her biography as rector. Pochinok indicated that the publication discredits the business reputation of the university and harms the cooperation of the two universities. At the same time, neither Natalya Pochinok herself, nor the Foundation Council, which conducts the voting, contacted us.

As a result, the University Legal Department prepared a detailed report in which there is a claim against DOXA that we allegedly violate the business reputation of the university with many of our publications. The opinion from the Legal Department mentions the following articles:

— 5 REAL reasons not to enroll in HSE
— Candidate for the Moscow City Duma from the RGSU: “Waiting for budget-funded places from the state is wrong”

The cover letter to the Foundation Council, in which it was proposed to vote for the exclusion of DOXA from the Higher School of Economics, also mentions our other publications. A HSE employee saw in them “the presence of signs of political activism”:

— Which of the worst rectors are you?
— University in the pit
— Cold summer 2019
- We can get a new Swamp

Our magazine was born with the idea that an essential element of the university is self-criticism and public discussion. Revocation of the status of a student organization deprives HSE students and teachers of a feedback channel and representation in the public sphere.

The news about the attempt to deprive us of the status of a student organization came as a complete surprise to us. HSE is the university where the magazine appeared and developed; we have always considered it our alma mater. We ask and expect support from the journalistic and academic communities. We devoted almost 3 years of the magazine’s existence to promoting the idea of ​​academic and civic solidarity. We hope that our activities in this direction were not pointless.

In addition, we do not believe that our activities harm the reputation of HSE. On the contrary, we show that this is one of the few Russian universities that is not afraid of open and public discussion. Therefore, we demand from the administration of the Higher School of Economics the same open discussion regarding the closure of our organization . We assume that otherwise, the costs to the reputation of the university will be much higher than from any of our articles.

Editorial staff of DOXA magazine

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