Down on the Volga river, Samara State University (SGU) is under threat. Local and federal authorities are planning to make SGU a part of Samara State Aerospace University (SGAU), one of Russia’s top technical universities. On 22 June, Dmitry Livanov, Minister of Education, signed an order to combine these two institutions.
Despite protests and petitions, Governor Nikolai Merkushkin (United Russia) believes that amalgamating these institutions will only benefit the state of higher education in Russia’s sixth largest city. But lecturers and students at SGU are worried by the fate of this latest round of rationalisation: according to rumours, this process will leave many people without jobs.
Protests
7 July. As Beatles hits float across Samara’s central square, one could easily mistake this demonstration for a rock concert. But no, this stage is here for a rather different reason—students and lecturers are holding a meeting on Samara’s central square in protest against the closure of SGU. With roughly 500-700 people in attendance, this is one of Samara’s largest demonstrations in recent years.
