Date: April 3, 2017
To: Michael lgnatieff, President and Rector, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
From: NYU President Andrew Hamilton

Via email

Dear Dr. Ignatieff,

On behalf of the New York University community, I want to convey our solidarity with the students, faculty, and staff of Central European University, and our concern over the pending legislation that would shut down CEU.

There is a certain fellowship, I think, between the world's urban universities. Great cities are made greater still by the presence of institutions of higher learning - they add to the vibrancy, contribute to the diversity, advance the civic discourse, and catalyze the new ideas. Hungary in general, and Budapest in particular, would be a more impoverished place without CEU.

We at NYU are also keenly mindful of the human dimension. We are troubled by the impact the enactment of the legislation would have upon your students' pursuit of their degrees and your faculty's pursuit of their scholarship. Disrupting the lives of all those in an academic community for no good purpose is deplorable and reprehensible.

Please know that you, your colleagues, and your students are in our thoughts. We hope that good sense and fair-mindedness prevails, and that CEU will be able to carry on its work for many, many years to come.

Sincerely,

Andrew Hamilton