“Sciences-po is a place for debate.
» Laurence Bertrand Dorléac, president of the Political Science Foundation (FNSP) to which Sciences-po Paris depends, tried, this Monday morning, to defuse the tense situation for several days in the school.
Invited to the microphone of France Inter, the art historian tried to defend the faculty, affected by a controversy which is shaking the walls of the elite school.
On March 12, a 20-year-old young woman, member of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF), was blocked from entering the amphitheater where a conference organized by the Sciences-po Paris committee was taking place. in support of the Palestinians.
According to the victim, this ban on entry was motivated by the fact that she is of the Jewish and “Zionist” faith: “You, you are not coming in!
(…) We know you,” some students allegedly told him.
This incident immediately caused an uproar in the political class.
Gabriel Attal notably made a surprise visit to a meeting of the establishment's board of directors.
The Prime Minister then did not mince his words, saying about the faculty that the “fish always rots from the head”.
Sylvie Retailleau, the Minister of Higher Education, declared a few days later in an interview: “We cannot accept, in an educational establishment, that there are acts of discrimination.
This is unacceptable.
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“We will be intractable”
This Monday, Laurence Bertrand Dorléac first wished to recall that an administrative investigation was decided the day after the events.
“The first hearings took place this morning, and a report was made to the public prosecutor,” said the academic.
These investigations will reveal what exactly happened.
If there have been anti-Semitic acts, we will be intractable.
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Also read: How the suspicion of anti-Semitism at Sciences-Po became a state affair
The president of the FNSP also declared that she had the impression that Sciences-po “is the subject of unreasonable interest” and that the school suffers from constantly living “in the spotlight”.
“The lesson is that it is the price of Sciences-po’s glory, since the faculty attracts all eyes,” she assured.
Laurence Bertrand Dorléac still confided that she was concerned about a “stiffening of the climate” within the faculty, before qualifying her remarks and insisting on the fact that “Sciences-po is a place for debate.
With the possible exception of this event, I have never noticed any clashes or lack of respect in the dialogue.
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