Boğaziçi University

About

Boğaziçi University is a public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus in Bebek is located just west of the Bosphorus, from which the institution takes its name. It is historically linked to Robert College, the first American college founded outside the United States.

Robert College was founded in Bebek in 1863 by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a Congregational missionary. In 1869, the first campus (now the Boğaziçi South Campus) was built on the ridge near Rumelihisarı with permission from Sultan Abdülaziz. According to a college catalogue compiled for the 1878–1879 academic year, "the object of the College is to give to its students, without distinction of race or religion, a thorough education equal in all respects to that obtained at a first-class American college and based upon the same general principles." After Cyrus Hamlin, the college was administered by George Washburn (1877–1903) and Caleb Gates (1903–1932). Established as an institution of higher learning independent of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), though with a significant number of missionaries among its faculty in its earlier years, the college adopted an entirely secular and non-denominational educational model in 1923 in compliance with the new republican principles of Turkey. Before 1971, Robert College, had junior high school, high school, and university sections under the names Robert Academy, Robert College, and Robert College Yüksek Kısım. In 1971, the Bebek campus and academic staff of Robert College were decided to be turned over to the Republic of Turkey to be transformed into a public university named Boğaziçi University, the renamed continuation of Robert College's university section (i.e. Robert College Yüksek Kısım). The rest of Robert College moved into the Arnavutköy campus of the American College for Girls; despite continuing to call itself a college, it became merely a high school. On 10 September 1971, as part of this transformation, Robert College bequeathed its Bebek campus—today's Boğaziçi South Campus—comprising 118 acres, along with its buildings, library, laboratories, facilities, personnel, and students, to the Turkish government. Boğaziçi University was subsequently established as a Turkish public university. Since then, the university has gradually evolved from a small liberal arts college into a research university.

The rector serves as the university's chief officer, presiding over both the University Senate and the University Executive Council. The Senate is the principal academic body and is responsible for decisions on curriculum, research policy, and academic standards; it is composed of vice rectors, deans, directors of institutes and schools, and members elected by the faculties. The University Executive Council oversees administrative and budgetary matters and comprises the deans and members elected by the Senate. Each faculty, school, and institute also maintains its own executive council and academic board. At its inception in 1971, Boğaziçi University inherited a culture of participatory governance from Robert College. The first rector, Aptullah Kuran, was appointed by the Ministry of National Education, but faculty councils met regularly and played a significant role in institutional decision-making. Deans were elected by their faculties.

Following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the newly established Council of Higher Education assumed the authority to appoint rectors at all Turkish universities, including Boğaziçi. In 1992, as part of the post-coup political normalization, Boğaziçi's faculty proposed an advisory election system. Under this model, faculty members voted for rector candidates, and the three receiving the most votes were forwarded to the Council of Higher Education, which selected one name — typically the top vote-getter — for formal appointment by the President of Turkey. Boğaziçi faculty also developed an informal convention whereby candidates who had not received the highest vote would withdraw from consideration if selected over the leading candidate. This system remained in place until 2016. In 2016, the President departed from the advisory election outcome and appointed Mehmed Özkan, the deputy of the former elected rector, rather than the candidate who had received the majority of the faculty vote. Özkan subsequently received a vote of confidence from the faculty. On 2 January 2021, President Erdoğan appointed Melih Bulu as rector without holding a faculty advisory vote, exercising the authority granted to the presidency by the Council of Higher Education Law. The appointment prompted protests by faculty, students, and alumni, during which more than 150 students were detained by police. The protests received international media coverage, and over a thousand academics, including Noam Chomsky, David Harvey, and Judith Butler, signed a statement of support for the university community. Bulu was dismissed on 15 July 2021, and Naci İnci was appointed as his successor. According to reports by Bianet and Diken, the administration under the government-appointed rectors initiated disciplinary investigations against faculty members and restricted some student club activities.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.