We greatly regret that one of our fellow CEU faculty members would find it appropriate to treat a Member of Parliament and colleague in a manner at once sexist, condescending, and unprofessional - and while we are glad to hear of his subsequent apology, we would like to note that to apologize by referring to the rules of "chivalry" does not in fact remedy, but rather compounds the problem. While we understand that Prof. Illés was representing the Hungarian government and not CEU, we are nevertheless struck by the uncivil, undemocratic, and sexist tone in which he responded to Szél. As members of CEU’s intellectual community, dedicated to the open and respectful pursuit of knowledge and the encouragement of an open and civil society, we believe that it is vital that our colleagues treat other academics, professional colleagues, and fellow citizens with respect.
We are also aware of many other faculty, staff, and students at CEU who share our concerns, we hope that the university community (including our colleagues in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy) will take this as an occasion to engage in productive dialogue about overcoming sexism and other forms of disrespectful conduct in all forms of communication at CEU and beyond.