On Saturday 24 November, students, scholars and citizens will take the streets of Budapest to march for academic freedom. The demonstration has been initiated by a growing coalition of students and scholars in reaction to increasing attacks on academic freedom and the 1 December deadline regarding the Central European University (CEU). The march will take place a week before the university will be forced out of Hungary if the government refuses to sign the required agreement.

This demonstration takes place in larger context of censorship and attacks on academic freedom. Aside from the hanging threat that CEU will be forced to leave the country, the Hungarian government has recently revoked the accreditation for programs in Gender Studies, de facto banning them from the country.

The march on November 24th overlaps with a visit by musicians Shaggy & Sting, who will be performing a fee concert at Budapest’s Hero’s Square later that evening.

Both Sting and Shaggy have been vocal in their own political convictions and critique of the Trump administration in the US and Brexit in the UK. Their new album, “44/786” criticizes the politics of division and the erosion of key democratic values in the United States and around the world. In an interview with ABC news, Shaggy said that 44/876 is about fighting to protect the values he fought for while serving in the US Marines. This is exactly what students intend to do with their protest for Academic Freedom on November 24th.

In honor of their visit and in the spirit of 44/786, CEU students have written an anti-Authoritarian karaoke rendition of “Roxanne” by the Police . Their song calls on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to sign the deal with CEU, and end its crackdown on academic freedom. It further calls on politicians in the European People’s Party (EPP) to draw the red line on academic freedom in Hungary.  

We, the undersigned, ask that Shaggy and Sting allow student supporters of academic freedom to sing their Anti-Authoritarian Rendition of Roxanne during their concert on November 24th.