Speech [The importance and necessity of cleansing up the universities]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Of course, everything that you mentioned is good in every respects. However, there is one point to which attention should be paid, now that you want to prepare the universities for appointing teachers and admitting students, many of them might assume an Islamic appearance and pass themselves off as teachers or students, for instance. You must do something about this problem. Although all of them are Muslims and pious, and are in agreement with the Islamic movement, their background must, nevertheless, be considered. I mean that there must be specific groups to study the backgrounds of the teachers and those who want to enter the universities, so that the universities do not become centers for those who are not there to study but are there for political reasons and other such reasons. You must also look into the causes of corruption which you witnessed in the universities, and do something about them so that the university does not once again turn into a center for those individuals and groups who want to carry out activities as groups. University is a center for acquiring knowledge, for educating and being educated. It is not a center for gangs to carry out their own activities because of which the same problems and that same mischief will return after six months; and then when you want to start all over again, you find the problems to have increased. So, the important point is that, from the very outsets when you want to reopen the universities and recruit teachers, you must study their backgrounds: what type of persons they were in the past; what they had done; what position they held in the university; how they interacted with the youth and whether or not they had carried out any intrigues. You should not be content with their testimonies to the effect that they are Muslims and that they are this and that, and such things. These issues must be studied thoroughly so that when the universities reopen, the people who teach there, even if not a hundred percent perfect, should be decent ones. Now, after the universities reopen, certain inspections must be carried out by having inspectors everywhere to see how teachers deal with students and what topics, other than their studies, they talk about and what issues they put forth. If the inspectors find out that the subjects are such as to mislead the students, they should inform the authorities. Therefore, there should be an organization to deal with such teachers who do such things. All of these measures are for purpose of having (responsible) people who can stop such activities in case some groups, for example, intend indulging in them and so cause the same old situation to arise. No matter how much reform you carry out, when impious people enter the universities, they will spoil the reforms. In a place where there are no impious people, reforms [ ]. Some groups[ active in the universities ]have no intention of studying. Their sole goal is to mess things up. Some individuals are really unaware of the issues; they really cannot tell the bad from the good. Such people can be trained. However, for some groups, such training goes against their purpose, which is to create such an atmosphere in the universities that even those who are seeking knowledge, are not able to study properly and are pushed into the same deviant groups, and so disturb the situation.

The crucial point is that the universities must be so transformed that the people in it, especially the teachers, are committed individuals. Moreover, there should be individuals and teachers for the specific purpose of talking to the students, in an appropriate manner, regarding ethical and Islamic conduct, so that they be morally trained from early on. This issue should be followed up more in the high schools so that they [the youth] would be brought up in a proper manner, and do not go and work for Russians, British or Americans after being trained.

These are very important matters that need to be considered very carefully. Of course, these changes should not be made in a way that would limit education. It should not be like the past [i.e. during the Pahlavi Dynasty]: improvements should not be blocked. But the moral aspects should also be recognized. Those teachers who can talk to students and teach ethics and religious subjects should do so, while they continue with their academic curriculum. Moreover, the curriculum, as you have also proposed, should be in accordance with our country's needs. It is not right to have classes for fine arts, for example, which will have no result but to keep us backward and help others who want to exploit our country. And also classes to teach a certain type of music and things of that nature which were many and which I really do not know much about- are useless for a country like ours; we do not need such things. We should have those subjects that we are in need of. We should strive to become self-sufficient, God willing, well, your plan is also in the same.

I hope that you be successful and all the various groups assist you, I from the government to the President, the future government; all of them must help. If the universities get straightened up, the country will straighten up. The universities could be the center of all corruption just as they could be the center for all improvements. That is why they have always been the object of the attention of foreigners. They have never been able to corrupt the theology centers. There may have been some deviation recently, but [generally speaking] they have not been able to do much up to now. They had turned the universities into centers for propaganda and corruption. They would pull the universities in every direction they wished. This is the important issue that must be taken into consideration at this time regarding the universities. Moreover, the curriculum, as you have also planned, should be such as to make us, God willing, self-sufficient in the fields that we are in need of, even if it takes a long time. May God protect you all and make you succeed in implementing such affairs.

Suppose that you reopen it, you will face the same problems. If the universities are reopened before a sound foundation is established for them, the same groups will come back and will create the same mischief and the same confrontations against one another. Until the proper arrangements are in place, the universities should not be reopened. We want universities, not centers where perverting influences are concentrated. If we just want a nominal university and not care about what happens in it, then we ought to reopen it quickly, in which case the same groups will pour in and bring the same woes upon it. Universities should be reopened when you are sure that they will be universities, when you are sure that they will be beneficial to our country and to Islam. But if you are not sure that the universities will function appropriately, it means that you have set up these centers [of education] and have spent lots on them but the same mess exists, and if they [the corrupt groups] return [with the improved conditions] they will increase their activities and make more efforts with the result that the same confrontations and the same situation will arise again.

Therefore, those who insist that the universities must reopen immediately, are either unaware or they are corrupt. They want such a state of affairs; you should not pay heed to them. You must sit down with the concerned professional and discuss the matter with them. You must reopen the universities when you are sure that they will actually be universities, and that they will be centers of knowledge and education. We do not want to create facades of universities and show off to the world and the West that we have universities! We did have universities. We had them for thirty years; but you saw what happened!

We want to set up something so that we, ourselves, believe that we have universities, whether the West and the[ so called ]intellectuals like it or not. We ought to work for our own good. We should not have in mind to do something that a certain group would appreciate or support as it would mean deviating from the path. We must work for God. We must do that which pleases God; that is, that which is of benefit to our country, to our poor nation, the poor of our nation, no matter what anyone says. We should not expect the people to shout hoorays or applaud us. We should not be after such things. We should try to put the universities right, even if we get insulted or abused for it. It does not matter. Let anybody say anything after we have carried out our duty. We should not be concerned about gaining a good reputation. I have seen many people that express opinions against their own beliefs in order to make a good impression on the intellectuals. This is a problem; it is a mistake. We must think about that which is of benefit to us and this poor nation that is backward; that they (the ex-regime) had tried to keep in a state of backwardness. We must think out a way of redressing this backwardness. If we reopen the universities as they were before, we will have the same problems. They will persist till the end and, in fact, even get worse. And as you were pursuing the matter (of reforming the universities) you will be blamed for the problems. Until you have not come up with the right plan for the universities, reopening them is wrong, and the plans that you have proposed to that end are either wrong [even though not ill intentioned], or have been laid out under the influence of groups that are hostile [to the Islamic Revolution]. Those who want the universities to reopen promptly either intend to cause harm or are unsound characters who want the same problems to exist [based on their wrong perceptions]. Of course, not that it is right to delay their reopening for several years, but it is also not correct to reopen something defective at any cost at the beginning of the year which will make the problems even worse than before. You must consider all the various aspects [of the issue].[Wait for the reopening of the universities until] you have completed your plans and straightened them up. If you do so, the reopened universities will really be universities; the student will enter to really study and the teacher will also be there to really teach. Neither the teacher will be there to corrupt nor will the student restart the rivalries. Such matters should not exist. Only then will everything be in place.

We should not pay head to the differing tastes. We, ourselves, need to realize what we are doing, and how we could be of service to our nation. When we have realized that there is something, we should hold our ears and not pay any heed to what they [i. e. those hostile to the Islamic Revolution] write Whatever you do, those who intend to cause damage and do harm, will do as they wish. They will do their job no matter what you do. If you do something that supports them, then they can do [the damage they intend without any difficulty], and if your actions oppose them [i.e. their stance] they will do harm as they wish [again regardless of what you do or say]; but they are unable to do so.

I hope that God will help you in this matter and give you success and I thank you. I express my thanks as one brother to another though the matter concerns you, yourselves. We should all be thankful to God for the opportunity He has granted us in being able to engage in such tasks.