At the June 2024 CEU Board of Trustees’ meeting the CEU leadership voted on the matter of “decoupling Budapest from CEU academic operations”. Apparently, no concrete steps were scheduled. After the Board meeting, everyone seemed to focus on the bombshell news that OSF would not finance the construction of the planned Vienna campus. It was unclear whether the university leadership was going to sell (parts of) the Budapest campus to raise money for its Vienna building plans, and we decided not to post further updates until we learned more about this new situation and its implications for KEE and “decoupling”.

The CEU Board met again recently, just a few days after the US elections. On November 11, 2024, the CEU leadership announced that

• CEU President and Rector Shalini Randeria is stepping down as of July 2025 (one year ahead of her term’s end)
• The plan to build the new Vienna campus at 1 Eichenstrasse is now abandoned
• A new strategy is being developed, which is to include CEU operations at the Budapest campus. This means that “decoupling” is no longer on the agenda of the Board of Trustees (no news, though, on whether KEE has been—or will be—terminated), and finally,
• Planning for a new campus in Vienna remains part of CEU’s long-term strategy.

These are difficult times for our alma mater. While we understand that the danger of closing down the Budapest campus has been averted (for now), the global rise of autocracy is threatening the very existence of CEU (the rise of the extreme right in Austria is also worrying). The US election outcome (and the close links between Trump and Orbán) made it obvious that Budapest is an essential battleground of the forces of democracy and autocracy.

Facing these institutional challenges, CEU in both Vienna and in Budapest needs our support more than ever. We call on our fellow alumni, friends, and associates of CEU to look for ways to (re)connect with the university. Let people around you know about CEU and about the important work CEU is doing on both campuses. With the rise of costs, students from non-privileged backgrounds find it harder and harder to come to study in Vienna. Contact your department to find out whether you can contribute to an Alumni Scholarship. Contact the institutions in Budapest if you have an idea for cooperation. Let CEU know that you care. It’s time for us to give back to CEU and help preserve and reinforce its role as a beacon of academic freedom and civic engagement.

We will return with updates if and when the “uncoupling” and KEE/situation changes. Until then: Thank you for standing with CEU, be safe, and also help keep our world safe.