Demisia în spaţiul universitar ieşean. Cazul profesorilor Facultăţii de Drept din anul 1925
The Resignation in University of Iași. The 1925 Case of the Faculty of Law Professors

Summary/Abstract: In December 1922, the nationalist students from the University of Iași embarked on a series of violent acts against Jewish students. These would decisively impact the Iași academic community’s first decade of the inter-war period. A particular case in the context of the disagreements between professors about the presence of Jewish students in the university is illustrated by the Faculty of Law. Promoters of the anti-Semitic ideology were among its ranks, such as A.C. Cuza, from the university department, or the leader of the nationalist students, C.Z. Codreanu. The violent acts orchestrated by them continued every year, which led to the successive closings of Iaşi University. In this context, the Faculty of Law’s position became problematic, as it became associated with the image of a hotbed of anti-Semitic ideology. At the same time, the Faculty was asked to undertake severe measures against the students who had started disruptions in the university. In the first stage of student disruptions, the faculty professors ignored the Senate’s decisions regarding the demonstration leaders. Gradually, especially after 1924, the way in which the Iași jurists were perceived could no longer be separated from the context in which A.C. Cuza’s ideology proliferated among students. Starting with January 1925, some of the University’s faculties were reopened as a result of the tough measures taken against the repeated offenders, who were expelled. The Faculty of Law refused to enforce the expulsions pronounced by the University Senate, a means through which the professors tried to protect the faculty’s prestige. This inevitably led to the Senate’s, but also the Ministry of Education’s, dissatisfaction, who refused to respond to requests of reopening the Faculty. It had become obvious that the faculty’s fortunes would be tied to the way in which it would see fitting to position itself regarding the student riots and the ideology promoted by A. C. Cuza. Most professors believed that solving the Cuza case by sending it to court would also settle the situation the faculty was in. As this did not happen, the Iași jurists deemed the Senate’s attitude towards its own faculty premeditated. In this context, they resorted to an unusual measure: no less than six of the faculty professors submitted their resignation. The Ministry approved it, giving birth to a series of suspicions regarding the reasons behind resignation. The professors shortly backtracked on their resignations. This time, their decision was politically motivated. The whole resignation situation lasted for two years, while the various ministries only approved the return of certain professors, according to their political and institutional partisanship.

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