WHEREAS the intellectual community to which the University of Delaware belongs encompasses all those pursuing knowledge worldwide, and

WHEREAS any attack on academic freedom serves to weaken that pursuit and thus is a threat to all in the community, and

WHEREAS the Iranian government through is systematic exclusion of young people of the Baha'i faith from colleges and universities in Iran since 1980 and through its recent closure of the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education has violated international declarations of human rights and deprived the Baha'i youth of their legitimate pursuit of knowledge solely on the basis of their religious beliefs, and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Faculty of the University of Delaware condemns the recent shutdown of the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education by the Iranian government, the simultaneous arrest of faculty members and the confiscation and destruction of academic books and educational equipment, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Faculty of the University of Delaware calls for the reopening of the Baha'i Institute and allowing all citizens the freedom to pursue higher education, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT these resolutions, if passed by the Senate, be communicated to the Director General of UNESCO and to the Minister of Culture & Higher Education in the Islamic Republic of Iran.