University rector urged to apologize

In January 2013 examination cycle at Gyumri Pedagogical University a post-graduate student of the faculty of foreign languages Hasmik Sukiasyan received examination marks without being present at the university and passing exams. This student is former MP Martin Sukiasyan’s daughter. Two exams were marked by her mother, Karine Sukiasyan, who teaches at the same university. The student received her exams without being present while she was in Moscow.

In March, the university rector, Vardevan Grigoryan, called the dean of foreign languages, Sahakanush Grigoryan, and told her that a serious violation had taken place at the university. The university was informed by the police that a complain letter had been received. The rector told the dean that one of them had to resign – either the faculty dean or the rector. Sahakanush Grigoryan, whose fault of that she had signed under the conclusion paper as she did not know that the student was out of the country, decided to resign. Her resignation generated the anger of faculty member and three professors – Anahit Mirijanyan, Sirvard Grigoryan and Anush Nersisyan – demanded from the rector to explain why he had urged their dean to resign. The rector told them that he had made a decision as a crime had been committed in the university. The professors explained to the rector that the dean did not have much fault and their faculty had been very successful, however, the rector fired the professors for their disobedience.

Hovik Melkonyan was nominated for the position of the dean, but he decided to withdraw his candidacy a couple of days before the election. Tamara Melkonyan, who is MP Naira Karapetyan’s mother, nominated her candidacy with a short notice and became dean of the faculty. She is one of the professors who marked an exam for the female student who was out of the country at that time.

The dilemma is that the rector instructed the dean who had signed the conclusion paper of the student without knowing about her absence to resign, but instead he supports one of the professors that marked the girl’s exam knowingly about her absence to become dean of the same faculty.

The former dean of the faculty, Sahakanush Grigoryan, told us that she does not agree with the injustice toward the three professors of the faculty that tried to stand by her and believes that the rector should at least publicly apologize. Sahakanush Grigoryan told us what really happened in the university and what they expect from the rector.

-What would you say about the fact that a professor who marked the exam of a student that was out of the country, as a result of which you resigned, was elected dean in your position?

-Tell you frankly, I have always warned our professors to be very careful in relation to students that are not present at class or exams. As it turned out in the end, Karine asked all professors personally, and even obligated some of them, to mark the exam of the girl. They thought they were not doing a big violation as they were trying to help a girl, who had lost her father and was having some problems with pregnancy. That girl was their colleague’s daughter and they wanted to help. By the way, Karine marked two exams for her daughter. But when the university raised an alarm about the issue, the professors who had marked the exam could at least say that the professors that were fired were not even the girl’s professors as she was studying in the Russian department, and those professors were teaching in the English department. No one at the university asked them whether it is moral to appoint someone in that position after the former dean resigned because of the mistake they made. It does not matter if that person is backed by a minister or MP; they are members of the scientific council and they should have asked that question. But they did not say a single word as they knew that someone had asked for Tamara Melikyan.

-Does this mean that Grigoryan initially wanted to get rid of you and give that place to Tamara Melikyan?

-No. Rector Vardevan Grigoryan did not want Tamara to be elected in my place, and that is the reason all this story was organized this way. In the beginning of the year I told everyone that my term would finish in December 2013, but I was going to resign in the end of the educational year. The rector organized this in order to issue a warning to Tamara, dismiss me before my term would finish, and appoint Hovik Melkonyan as the dean. His plan failed because his warning did not work for Tamara as there was a powerful person who asked for Tamara. It was a surprise for everyone that on the last day Hovik withdrew his candidacy. Vardevan Grigoryan said that Hovik had done it voluntarily. He should have been brave enough to tell the truth as he had been instructed by higher instances.

-What happened to the criminal case that was instituted in connection with the crime in the faculty?

-In fact there was no complaint submitted to the police; the legal case was launched based on Vardevan Grigoryan’s interview on TV.

-Does this mean that he provoked a case against the women in the faculty and then said that it was dismissed due to the collective letter submitted by the team?

-Yes. That is how moral that man is.

-Do you have any demands now?

-Why did we resign? Because the rector said a violation had taken place and those who committed it should be punished. By electing or appointing a professor who had marked an exam in violation of the law he shows that there was no crime. Now he has to publicly, in the presence of the university professors, announce that he apologizes. He has to also apologize for the three other professors that voluntarily resigned as an action of protest. Now everyone knows that the three professors were right, but to prove their point they had to lose their jobs. When he publicly apologizes for what he has done, maybe after that it will be possible to eliminate the legal consequences.

By Avetis Babajanyan