Dr. Mohammad Maleki was the first president of the Tehran University after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He is also among the first officials to resign from his post after the revolution. We have spoken to him about the cultural revolution and recent events surrounding Iran’s universities. .
Rooz (R): Why were you chosen as the first president of the Tehran University?
Mohammad Maleki (MM): After the revolution, Mr. Taleqani, the head of the University’s management council, suggested that I become the president.
(R): How long did your tenure last?
(MM): We ran the university based on the consensus of council members, until cultural revolution, or a cultural coup in my opinion, took place. The vicious actions that were taken on the excuse of Islamicizing universities led us all to resign.
(R): Did your decision have any other repercussions?
(MM): Yes. In 1981 I was arrested on the charge that I had let various anti-revolutionary groups flourish in the university, and other reasons that all are aware of. I was behind bars until 1986.
(R): Today, people like Kadivar, Kavousian, and many others are forced into retirement. What, in your opinion, fuels this trend?
(MM): First we have to clarify what a professor is and what he is expected to do. In order to become a professor, an individuals must meet certain criteria. These criteria include completing academic degrees. This means that a professor must be able to engage his students in arguments over various issues, communicate his point of view to them and be able to answer their questions. But, with what happened after the revolution, professors must either act on what they believe or lie and pretend that they are something else. Let me put it differently: if professors act as the government desires, then they become popular; but if they act independently, then they are frowned upon
(R): Do you think that we are on the verge of a second cultural revolution?
(MM): In 1980 the country was in a special and revolutionary situation, when thousands of professors and students were kicked out of universities. The goal of the so-called cultural revolution was to bring the university under state control so that no dissent or criticism could originate in the world of academia. Now, after many years and failing to achieve this goal, some are flirting with the idea of a second cultural revolution.
(R): How do you evaluate the university’s current management?
(MM): Certainly I am not aware of what goes on in all universities. But in some places the management is such that you can neither laugh nor cry about it! An example is Tehran University under president Amid Zanjani. Before the revolution, Mr. Zanjani was an ordinary prayer leader at the Lorzadeh Mosque. After the revolution, he was brought in to the law school to teach some courses. Now, he is the president of the country’s largest university. And this university’s problems are clearly visible to everyone.
