Everyone knew that the creation of a university policing force would be difficult at the beginning, and recent actions on a campus confirmed that.
A few hours after the force appeared at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the turnstiles installed at the building housing the administrative offices (photo), in compliance with the law regarding the force’s establishment, were vandalised by individuals with their faces concealed.
The new initiative from the start produced severe tensions, and the lack of consensus among political parties, which was entirely obvious in the debate before the law was passed by the Greek Parliament, presaged the reactions.
What has begun however, must be completed.
For quite some time, universities have been treading between their past and their future.
Ideological fixations and reservations do not help the necessary leap towards the future.
Without fear or violence, University Protection Teams must be a part of the solution, so that it will be clear to students that their presence is a protective and not a punitive measure.
At the same time, those who believe that universities will forever remain bastions of lawlessness must understand that our entire society opposes that.
The era when university asylum (police being prohibited from entering campuses without being called in by the rector) was used as a cover for criminal actions has ended for good.
The protection of university facilities is not an opportunistic measure. It will be systematic.
For their part, rectors have a duty to cooperate and actively participate in implementing the new initiative.
That is the only way that Greek universities will internationally achieve the position that they deserve.
