Alzahra University Professor After 'Dismissal': May Students Not Think Darkness Has No End

The expulsion of university professors in Iran continues, with the latest case being Neda Tolai, a lecturer at Alzahra University in Tehran, who has announced her dismissal. In a message posted on Instagram addressed to her colleagues, Tolai stated that "last week, the university contacted me and said" that "due to fluctuations in your approval by the security office, we cannot have you this semester," emphasizing that "to put it simply: you are dismissed." Tolai noted that the qualifications of all professors had been re-evaluated three months prior and "I was approved, and this semester, two of my classes were held." She wrote to her "colleague": "In summary, it seems that the rest of my semester classes will be assigned to you. I know it’s difficult to take the place of another instructor in the middle of the semester, although I have not experienced it myself. Let’s move on." Tolai also reflected on her teachings to students, stating: "I have taught until the end of the Middle Ages. That Christ had no message other than love for his people, but the church darkened Europe’s history for a thousand years in his name, and anyone who spoke a new thought was burned. I told them about the Inquisition organizations that scrutinized and probed into the most private actions of its citizens to the extent that every seed for creating art suffocated in the soil, and thus the history of art remained so insignificant for nearly ten centuries." Addressing the professor who would take over her class after her dismissal, she said: "You tell them about the 'Renaissance.' About rebirth. May they not think that darkness has no end." These statements from the university professor come as the Islamic Republic has been purging professors who do not align with its policies and those who support protests, especially in recent months following widespread protests that also occurred in Iranian universities. Previously, dozens of academic figures abroad have protested the expulsion of professors, considering this action by the Islamic Republic as a continuation of four decades of pressure and repression in Iran's educational environments. Tolai continued in her message to the incoming professor, saying: "You tell them the stories behind each work, for example, tell them that David falsely painted Napoleon on a horse with such grandeur to preserve his might. Otherwise, Napoleon rode a donkey in the Alps," and "tell them about Käthe Kollwitz, whose son was killed in war, and her art was banned by the ruling party as degenerate art, forcing her to resign from her position in the university faculty, and none of this prevented us from knowing her name in the Middle East today. But the name of the one who suppressed her never remained. At least not for good." She pointed out that women fought to have "their names mentioned alongside men in the history of art" and emphasized: "Many children even have to hide parts of themselves at home. So if you see fit, let them be free to be themselves at least in class. Without fear of the consequences." Tolai also mentioned that she has taught at Alzahra University for eight years, and her average evaluation "with 60 classes and two thousand students, according to the university's own website, is 19.68." The wave of suspensions and expulsions of university professors in Iran continued recently with the dismissal of Mahshid Gohari Kakhki and Marsideh Islami from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. A Tehran-based newspaper previously reported that thousands of professors had been expelled from Azad University in the new academic year, stating that "first or second semester doctoral students" had replaced them. Additionally, Jinous Taghizadeh, a multimedia artist, previously emphasized that the Islamic Republic's efforts to "militarize universities" have been ongoing for years, stating that brilliant professors were removed after the cultural revolution, and this wave has been repeated in various periods.