Fourth and fifth-year medical students at the Lebanese University (LU) are boycotting their exams in solidarity with a student who was banned from taking his exam allegedly due to a social media post.
The student, Hadi Shammaa, was prohibited from entering the exam hall after he criticized the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Dr. Youssef Fares, in a post on social media.
Shammaa accused the dean of exploiting the students’ research and forcing students to add his son’s name to their research, according to the LU Secular Club.
A similar allegation was made by another student named Ali Sleiman.
In response, the dean set up a disciplinary committee against Shammaa and allegedly threatened him by sending someone to hit him and his sister.
The dean then used his authority to postpone Shammaa’s exams, the LU Secular Club explained in a statement.
Students stood by their banned colleague and rejected their faculty’s decision. The hashtag #كلنا_هادي_شماع (We’re all Hadi Shammaa) was also used on social media to bring light to the issue.
According to a tweet by students, the dean responded by threatening to fail all those who boycotted their exams.
The Union of Lebanese University Students has called for a sit-in on Friday at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at 10 AM to support the students’ decision to boycott their exams in solidarity with Shammaa and in rejection of the “repressive approach” adopted by the university against its students.
