Here is the letter I sent earlier today to Prof. Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick where I teach.
He very promptly and encouragingly responded to indicate he is already working with our European partners on ways to express our solidarity and to provide support to Ukraine.
Let’s work to ensure the academic community mobilises effectively to show we stand with Ukraine in concrete as well as in symbolic ways.
Dear Stuart,
I am writing to call upon our University to express its solidarity with Ukraine and its people.
A few days ago, I was corresponding with Ukrainian colleagues about our research collaboration and was planning their visit to campus. Today, these very colleagues are scrambling for safety, in fear for their lives and that of their loved ones.
Their country is under attack from a ruthless dictator who has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for international law and fundamental human rights, both within and outside the borders of Russia. Ukraine is now fighting for its survival as a self-governing, independent nation.
Since 2013, the people of Ukraine have defied a brutal repression, endemic corruption, and an illegal foreign invasion and annexation to defend the basic freedoms we all take for granted here. In the last few days, Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have once again laid down their lives in the name of democracy and in the hope of European integration.
After the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union, our University remained steadfastly committed to our common continent. Under your leadership, it has indeed consolidated and deepened our partnerships with European institutions.
I trust that Warwick’s commitment to Europe is no mere corporate strategy; I do not doubt that it reflects the core values of a multinational, multilingual community committed to the international production, dissemination, and exchange of ideas and knowledge. Our Europe has never been defined or constrained by institutional structures and political boundaries.
The University’s mission also rests on an unwavering commitment to free and open inquiry, to truth-seeking as a contested and ongoing process of discovery and elucidation of scientific and social facts. The invasion of Ukraine, justified by systematic falsifications of history and by a systematic campaign of disinformation and mendacious propaganda, is therefore also on an attack of the fundamental value of the University, of any university.
This is why I am calling on the University of Warwick to express its solidarity with the people of Ukraine in a formal and solemn fashion. I hope it will also promote and encourage the efforts of our colleagues and students who are currently working to support Ukrainians in any way they can.
Ukrainians, among whom are some of our students and colleagues, are in desperate need of our solidarity. I sincerely hope that Warwick, as an institution and as a community, will answer their call.
I thank you in advance for the attention you will pay to this message.
Yours truly,
Pierre
