Is a university a diploma or a learning network?

The recent presidential decree that first closed and then reopened Istanbul Bilgi University has, beyond its technical and legal dimensions, brought an important social question back to the agenda: What exactly is the institution we call a university?

What does it mean to open or close a university?

The answer to this question is not as simple as it might seem. If we view the university solely as an institution that grants diplomas, the matter appears easy. You transfer students to another university, assign academics to other institutions, and continue educational activities. On paper, the problem is solved.

But a university is much more than that.

Above all, a university is a center of science that aims to produce, protect, and disseminate universal knowledge. The knowledge accumulated by humanity over centuries is transferred to new generations through universities and is further developed through them as well. For this reason, universities are not only educational institutions but also the memory of societies.

Today, the future of universities is frequently debated due to artificial intelligence, online education platforms, and digital technologies. It is sometimes suggested that universities will turn into digital platforms and that physical campuses will lose their importance. This is a hasty attitude, and it seems to me that these assessments overlook the essence of the university. I have shared my thoughts on these matters in my previous articles.

A university is not just a place where lectures are given. The fact that academics and students are in the same space, thinking, discussing, and producing together creates a very special synergy. What we call a campus is not actually an area consisting of buildings, but an ecosystem that constantly generates interaction.

What a student learns in the hallway, library, laboratory, cafeteria, and student clubs is just as important as what they learn in the classroom. Social and cultural development, as much as academic development, emerges as a result of these interactions. Therefore, no matter how much virtual environments develop, it does not seem possible for them to completely replace the real campus experience.

An ideal university campus should consist of living spaces where students and academics can easily come together, debate, and produce together. Because science is born not only from books but also from human interactions.

Another element that makes universities strong is the academic identity they build over time. Every university has a specific emphasis in its view of the world. This emphasis is shaped by the knowledge, research, and students trained by the academics who have worked at that institution for years. Academics who have worked at a university for many years, and even the administrative staff, have a very important place in the formation of institutional identity. Because while academics hold administrative positions for limited periods such as 3-4 years, administrative staff are more permanent and are very effective in the formation of institutional memory.

We can see this clearly when we look at the world's most respected universities. When MIT is mentioned, engineering and technology come to mind. Harvard stands out with its accumulation in the fields of law and public policy. Stanford is strong in entrepreneurship, technology, and medicine. These institutions are not the best in the world at everything. What makes them valuable is the knowledge ecosystem they have created in specific fields and the sustainability of this system.

There are similar examples in Turkey as well. METU and ITU have established strong traditions in engineering, Boğaziçi University in economics and business, and Ankara University in political science, and they have formed the core of many state and foundation universities established later. These institutions are not just structures that provide education. They are also communities, cultures, and environments for thought.

I think this is exactly what makes a university a university.

A university's duty is not just to train people with professions. Of course, it is important to train good engineers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. However, a more important task is to provide people with a worldview, a life experience, and a cultural perspective.

If a person who graduates as a mechanical engineer has a limited worldview, is closed to different ideas, has insufficient cultural background, and does not understand society, it is difficult for them to be a good engineer. The same applies to doctors, lawyers, and all other professions.

Because professional knowledge alone is not enough. What makes people successful is the combination of technical expertise with cultural and intellectual accumulation.

For this reason, it is a great misconception to see the university only as a certification center that gives diplomas.

Universities are also communities. The network of relationships formed over the years among academics, students, alumni, and employees constitutes the invisible capital of the institution. A university's reputation arises not only from its publication numbers or buildings, but from the people it trains and the communities it creates.

Viewed from this perspective, closing a university does not just mean taking down the sign of an institution. It also means dismantling a knowledge ecosystem, a research culture, an environment of thought, and a community that has been formed over many years.

Transferring students to other universities and employing academics in different institutions may be a technical solution. However, what disappears is not just the educational activities carried out under X University. A habitat where scientific knowledge is produced in a unique way, where different ideas come together, and where new generations are raised is also disappearing.

Yet, science thrives on diversity.

The stronger the different universities, different areas of expertise, and different academic traditions are, the more the country's scientific capacity increases. When unique options decrease, uniformity emerges.

Uniformity kills curiosity.

Science cannot be done without curiosity.

And without science, social welfare, technological progress, and sustainable development are not possible.

When we establish or close a university, we are not just making an administrative decision. We are also exercising authority over a knowledge ecosystem, a cultural environment, and a tradition of thought.

Universities are not buildings, not diploma factories, and not even just educational institutions. Universities are the institutionalized form of a society's capacity to dream about the future.