Mandatory Hijab: 40 Students Banned from Entering Art University
Art University administrators temporarily banned 40 female students from entering the university under the pretext of “failure to observe complete Islamic dress code,” conditioning the removal of this ban on wearing a “headscarf.”
Meanwhile, at Shahid Beheshti University, female students were threatened that if they do not wear a “headscarf” and “defy mandatory hijab” during exam sessions, the university will “delete” their course units.
Student class councils reported on Monday, June 13, that “following the illegal banning of approximately 40 students on the pretext of improper dress, the university security department has now suspended these students conditionally, meaning that if the students appear on campus again without a headscarf, their suspension will be enforced.”
The report emphasized that “the banning and widespread suspension of students occurred in a manner completely contrary to law.”
Art University also sent a text message to students emphasizing the mandatory nature of the “headscarf.” The message stated: “Dear student, from Saturday, June 17, 2023, presence at the university is only possible within the framework of proper conduct and for female students wearing a headscarf.”
Over the past decade, Art University has implemented several extensive measures to “enforce mandatory headscarves for students,” but these efforts have failed due to student resistance.
Previously, at least 40 students and faculty members at Art University were “banned” or “suspended” from study and teaching due to their support for “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. The latest example is the two-semester suspension issued against Mohammad Javad Tavaznizadeh, a graduate composition student at Art University.
Meanwhile, student activists at Shahid Beheshti University reported “harassment and threatening of students during exam sessions” due to “not wearing a headscarf.”
Student class councils, confirming reports of “harassment and threats” against students, added: “The dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Shahid Beheshti University harassed students who were not wearing headscarves during exams and threatened them, saying that if they repeat this, they will be banned from taking the exam.”
Meanwhile, a notice signed jointly by Abbas Saeedi, acting head of the Academic Affairs Office, and Fazel Jahangiri, acting head of Cultural and Social Affairs at Shahid Beheshti University, was posted on the announcement boards of various faculties, threatening students that if they do not wear a headscarf and fully observe Islamic hijab in the university premises, classrooms, and exam halls, the exam proctor and the relevant professor can “delete the student’s course.”
Independent student organizations, along with 200 students from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tehran, issued a letter last week protesting the “deprivation of educational rights and banning” of protesting students and referring to the “repression machinery in universities,” stating that “creating intimidation and violence in the university environment, banning, and detention by security institutions outside the university” are part of the university’s tools aimed at suppressing and silencing the unstoppable voice of students.
In this letter, student organizations emphasized that university administrators are now, “by resorting to hasty changes in disciplinary regulations and holding mass disciplinary committees, and by issuing orders of “dismissal,” “suspension,” and “banning,” including on the pretext of dress code, implementing a “university purge project” and “eliminating protesting students and faculty.”
Source: Radio Farda
