UCD moves to ‘clarify its position’ on Ukraine after professor quits management role

UCD has moved to clarify its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine after a professor resigned one of his posts in the university in protest at UCD's "underwhelming" response to the invasion.

While other universities have roundly condemned the invasion of Ukraine, UCD said only that it shared "concern with the situation in Ukraine" a response that Prof Ben Tonra said made him "deeply, profoundly ashamed".

On Tuesday morning in a statement on Twitter, Prof Tonra said: "Based on the statements and response of the University's leadership to the invasion of Ukraine and the role of the Confucius Institute on campus, it is clear to me that I do not share the values underpinning UCD's global engagement strategy".

He said he would resign as vice-principal for internationalisation and global engagement, but, however, he will continue to remain on the university’s staff and continue his teaching and research at the university.

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The Irish Times contacted UCD for comment and a spokesperson responded on Tuesday afternoon.

“Yesterday, the University issued a statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The university wishes to clarify its position:

“UCD deplores and condemns the actions of Russia in invading and attacking Ukraine.

“This act of military aggression is a violation of international law and is completely unjustified.”

Controversy

Prof Tonra earlier explained to The Irish Times that he understood the muted UCD response to the invasion of Ukraine was linked to the presence of the Chinese Government-funded Confucius Institute on campus, increasingly a source of controversy among academics.

“My understanding is that the university didn’t make a stronger statement on Ukraine for fear someone would come back and say, ‘Why didn’t you say the same about China?’” he said.

Several academics have raised questions about the Confucius Institute, which teaches courses on China that critics say do not address Chinese human rights violations. Last week, the President of UCD Andrew Deeks said that criticism of the institute was misguided, and suggested that some criticisms were tinged with racism. His intervention was condemned by several prominent UCD academics.

Prof Tonra said that he was “deeply sympathetic” to the difficulties university management faced in securing outside funding to ensure that normal functions of the university could continue. But, he said, you cannot forget the core values on your way out the door to raise money.”