Board of Governors
Middlesex University in London
The Burroughs
…London NW4 4BT

Sirs,

As a scholar and professor who spent a life in the academia, inheriting and transmitting certain traditions of intellectual independence and professional dignity, I must say that I am appalled and ashamed when I learn that the administration of Middlesex University has suspended students and professors because of their protesting the closure of the philosophy department – a decision which, incidentally, was broadly criticized nationally and internationally as absurd and self-destructive on the side of this University. There is no doubt in my eyes that you would act responsively and honourably in stopping this nonsensical new escalation.

Sincerely,

Etienne Balibar
Professeur émérite, Université de Paris-Nanterre
Distinguished Professor of Humanities, University of California, Irvine