Write it down, clerk: Refer it to the commission

I have not held serious public offices.

My life has been spent at the university.

Education, research, service to society.

And a bit of banter.

When I was at the university, there would be many agenda items in department boards, faculty administrative boards, and senate meetings alike.

Although there was generally a consensus, there were occasionally heated debates.

Deans and especially rectors possessed significant public power.

The Council of Higher Education (YÖK), brought about by the September 12 coup, had granted rectors extraordinary powers; it is debatable whether even the US President has that much authority.

However, rectors generally did not use these extraordinary powers and preferred to implement an egalitarian management style.

Things are not quite like that these days.

We frequently hear about a new generation of rectors who constantly open investigations into their colleagues.

Some have even developed cancer after losing cases against former friends they took to court.

I rarely encountered the old guard using their authority to take heads, except during rector election periods.

We did witness some who were very ruthless during election periods.

They would offer a life full of nightmares to those who could not support them, or who might even lean toward supporting the opposing side.

Even if the number of our professors who were forced into retirement, exiled, or left to drag themselves through courthouse corridors was not high, it was not non-existent either.

The academic community, knowing this risk, generally did not show their true colors and would chart their orbit according to the power in charge.

Instead of using their own energy, they would broadcast signals at a low frequency using the energy of the orbit to eliminate risks.

Therefore, even though rectors were aware of their power, they generally tried to be polite.

On issues that did not suit them, if the professors were persistent, they would immediately form a commission and refer the proposals they did not like or found incorrect to that commission.

Thus, they would both kick the ball into touch and avoid hurting the professors' feelings.

You can guess what the decision coming from the commission would be.