The University of Georgia strongly disagrees with the joint statement of Georgian universities!

It is unacceptable to rebuke students because of the strike!

It is unacceptable to rebuke professors and teachers for joining their students in this protest!

The complete isolation of the university community from political processes is unthinkable, as it represents the most intellectual and progressive part of the nation, which has the most important role in the history of the country, in ensuring the progress of the society and in determining the state vector in the formation of national values.

And the price of isolating the most intelligent and progressive part of society from political processes, as Plato once said, is to put the reins of government in the hands of unworthy and stupid people.

The role and importance of the idea of a university for Georgia was most precisely defined by the founder and rector of the first Georgian university, Great Ivane Javakhishvili, when he adressed the students: „…It is my duty to call you to book and pen, but there are moments in the life of a nation when it is necessary to put everything aside…”

As per the legacy of the founders of the Georgian University, the Georgian university society has not betrayed this obligation and we hope it will not do so in the future. Universities, students and professors were at the forefront of the "Mother Language" events of 1978 and the National Liberation Movement of the 1980s.

The recent actions of the government are perceived by the students as a departure from the Western course and integration with the "Russian world". This opinion is supported by the assessments of both European and American partners, as well as the propagandists of Putin's regime.

Rejecting Western development and joining the "Russian world" means stopping Georgia's democratic and scientific-technological progress, human development, dragging us into a criminal, corrupt, ignorance vortex, which leads to the loss of freedom and sovereignty.

The Georgian Government has not managed to convince neither the majority of their own population nor their international partners that their actions do not contain existential threats. 

Until then, as long as the students and professors see such threats, yes, they have the right and are obliged to put everything aside and stand on guard for the interests of their homeland!