Open Letter to the Presidents of Iranian Universities

Open Letter to the Presidents of All Universities, Colleges and
Other Institutions of Higher Education in IranJuly 11, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

The undersigned university professors, administrators, researchers and professional Iranians express our deepest concern and strongest opposition to the proposed extreme policy by the Iranian Ministry of Higher Education to impose gender segregation at Irans institutions of higher education.

We call upon you to actively oppose the adoption and implementation of this proposal at anytime in your institution, simply because segregation is a deliberate anti-women policy that will adversely impact the quality of education in many advanced fields for Iranian women.

76 year history of higher education in our country has shown that our mature university students should be trusted to conduct themselves appropriately while attending colleges and universities, and they do not need government-imposed guardians to control their behavior.


Respectfully,


Fredun Hojabri,
Professor and former Academic Vice-president of Sharif University of Technology
Founding President of SUTA (Sharif University of Technology Association), 2000-2006

Mehdi Zarghamee, Professor
Former Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology

Reza Faraji-Dana, Professor
Former President of the University of Tehran
School of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Farhang Mehr, Professor
Former Chancellor of Shiraz University

Mohammad Amin, Professor
Former President of Isfahan University of Technology

Farhad Riahi, Professor
Former President of Bu-Ali University

Heybatolah Khakzar, Professor
Former President of the University of Science and Technology

Bijan Aalami, Professor
Former President of Abu Reyhan University

Farideh Tehrani, Ph.D.
President of Shiraz University Association

Hamid Javadi, Ph.D.
Iranian American Physicists Network Group
Ali Banijamali, Ph.D.
Chair, Iranian Chemists' Association of the American Chemical Society

Shervin Erfani, Professor
Dept. of Elec. & Computer Eng.
University of Windsor

Mohammad Ala, Professor
Director of Center for Business Excellence

Nahid Tavassoli, Ph.D.
Manager & Editor in Chief of NAFeH Journal

Shokooh Mirzadegi
Writer & Cultural Researcher