Speech by Katarina Popović on June 16th at the celebration of the Faculty of Philosophy Day, given at the protest of the Rebellious University held at the corner of Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina Street
Dear colleagues, dear students, friends of the Faculty of Philosophy,
Today we mark 187 years of the oldest institution of higher education in Serbia – the Faculty of Philosophy, founded in 1838. But this is not an ordinary birthday. This is not a day for celebration, because the times are not festive. This is a day when history is not just something we commemorate – it is something we live, something we create.
Today we are in the street, and that is no coincidence. Today we are at a CROSSROADS, and that is no coincidence. This crossroads carries deep symbolic weight. We stand between fear and freedom, between submission and resistance. And the Faculty of Philosophy has chosen – not to turn, but to go straight ahead. Because we choose what is RIGHT, and JUST. And justice. And dignity. We celebrate under the open sky – because truth, like science, cannot be locked in rooms, it needs air, free space, and courageous people. The location of our celebration this year is no coincidence – it is a symbol. Today, the street is our classroom, the crossroads our amphitheatre, the voice from this street an act of academic resistance. The most educated and proudest parts of society are in the street today.
Because this institution, which has for nearly two centuries been a pillar of science and education, which for nearly two centuries has carried the spirit of freedom and critical thought, is once again being tested. Under attack. Because it refuses to submit. Because it stands. Because it does not bend.
We are one of the few faculties that are on strike. We are one of just two faculties at the University of Belgrade that did not vote for online classes. We refused to be trained, like puppies learning a new trick (today it may be online classes, tomorrow god knows what) in exchange for crumbs from the master’s table. And retaliation is already here. On Wednesday we will be subject to an inspection – how terrifying! And how brave are the little mice who ordered that inspection. And how proud I am to stand here in the middle of this street as a professor and say – well, send the inspection. Send the police, the fines… The strength of your arguments is revealed in the means you use – in starving us and intimidating us, attacking us, insulting us for months, along with our students, whom we have been standing beside since December 9th and supporting their demands – without hesitation, without delay, without second thought, without calculation. Because every honourable person in Serbia must stand behind those demands, and we, their professors, most of all.
And that is why, in my decades of work, I have never been prouder to be a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy than standing here, at this CROSSROADS.
The Faculty of Philosophy is not at the centre of this conflict by chance. It is not under attack because it is weak, but precisely because it is strong. Because it cultivates what blind political power always sees as a threat: knowledge, a thinking human being, questioning, doubt, resistance; it educates those who do not remain silent in the face of injustice; who do not look away; who, in a time of fear, choose truth, principle, and solidarity.
And because I am from Montenegro, and because the words are wise, I must quote the verses of the great Njegoš, which we saw at the protests in recent months: “As a wolf has the right to his sheep, so has ever tyrant to a weakling.” And now we have a wolf in the form of the Minister of Education, who has lashed out at us. A wolf – or rather: a mouse… That’s on his conscience, and his honour… And we must reply: “To place foot upon tyranny’s neck, that is the most sacred of man’s duties.”
Conscience, principles, duty, ethics… it all sounds so old-fashioned. It’s not popular to speak of those things today. But these beautiful, eternal values have been brought back to us by our students in the past few months, reminding us that they are the essence of our work and our lives, our foundation and our compass in all things.
Today we are proud because we are not alone. Our students are in front of us – and ahead of us. They remind us what it means to have a spine. Let’s remember: in 1968, in 1996, and today – it was students who were often the first to say “no” when it was hardest. And our Faculty was then, as it is now, by their side. Without calculation, without fear, without concessions.
Because what is a university that bends to power? What is education if it retreats when most needed, when the most valuable life lessons must be learned? What is science, if it hasn’t taught us how to respond to repression and what happens to a society if we don’t?
Today we are not only witnesses to an attack on academic freedom in Serbia, nor merely its targets – we are also the shield that guards against it. The attacks on our Faculty are direct, fierce, and in many ways dangerous to the whole of society. It is clear that the government does not want to understand that the university must not be submissive if we want the country to be free. That we must have free, high-quality, and accessible education, and free, strong science – if we want citizens to have a good quality of life in all areas…
We know that in the past few months the Faculty of Philosophy (like the University) has been the target of numerous attacks – from financial blockades, to the shameful Decree and threats of a new Law abolishing university autonomy, to pressure placed on professors and students. All of this shows one thing: the government is not only afraid of our knowledge and influence (because we, like Socrates, “corrupt the youth”) – it is afraid of our resistance. And how pathetic is a government that wages war on its oldest institution of higher education – for in doing so, it wages war against its own country, its own citizens, its own people. It either doesn’t know this or doesn’t care. But we care, and we feel the weight of that responsibility. Furthermore, we know that such a government cannot endure, and that its days are numbered –days, or maybe months, either way its end is inevitable…
That is why we will not give up. And in that lies both our honour and our responsibility. This is not just a fight for salaries, buildings, or jurisdictions. This is a fight for the meaning of what we do. For the right of knowledge to be free. For a university that belongs to society, not to power. For a country in which a professor is not a servant of the regime, but the conscience of society.
You already know we don’t have those famous “resources,” and that this government might drive us into bankruptcy as early as the end of the summer. Its oldest faculty. But that’s the shame of this government, not of the faculty. Because we may lack financial resources, but we possess the truth. We may not have the media, that factory of lies, but we have our voice. We may be few in number here, but we are not alone. With us are those, and I believe there are many, who believe in education as a public good, in knowledge as resistance, in solidarity as a way to survive and begin anew. With us are citizens, with us are citizens’ assemblies, today, here – at this crossroads…
Today, we are not just celebrating history – we are continuing it. And each of us here is part of it. The Faculty of Philosophy is not made up only of walls, libraries, archives, and departments. It is made of people who stand tall when it is hardest.
And today is exactly that kind of moment. We do not live off tradition – but off the decision to be worthy of it every single day. And we will stand, as long as we can look students and citizens in the eye. That is why – we remain upright. That is why – we do not give up.
To victory!
Translated by Marijana Simić
Peščanik.net, 20.06.2025.
