Head of Sorbonne attacks 'ignorant' student protesters

The Guardian ^ | April 3, 2006 | Kim Willsher

[trashcanbred]

The president of the world-renowned Sorbonne University has branded French students protesting about the country's new employment law "ignorant and stupid".

Reacting to protests over the law, which makes it easier for employers to fire, and therefore presumably more willing to hire, young workers, Jean-Robert Pitte said the youngsters had no dreams but believed everything was due to them as a right without having to work for it.

"I'm very angry about the demagogy, the ignorance and the stupidity of the young and of the French," said Dr Pitte, 56, a geography professor who has taught at Oxford and Cambridge and holds the Légion d'honneur.

[trashcanbred]

Wow... the head of the Sorbonne bad mouths the socialists. Must have been the time spent in an "Anglo-Saxon" country.

[JAWs]

"I'm very angry about the demagogy, the ignorance and the stupidity of the young and of the French..."

We, on the other hand, are very amused!

[Paladin2]

Give it up man, they're French (and VERY nuanced).

[voletti]

Is this Sorbonne a socialist haven? I mean, why is this newsworthy? of course, anybody the 'protesters' are willing to listen to telling them truth like it is, is welcome. But will the ignorant and the stupid care about what 'the Sorbonne' pulpit', such as it is?

[gotribe]

The man speaks a lot of sense. Sounds like a French intellectual of old and that's refreshing.

[SlowBoat407]

What Chirac should say:

Attention students. When you have worked for ten or twenty years, you will be qualified to comment on labor laws. Until then, shut up, go back to school, and concentrate on being useful, productive citizens. That is all.

[Fraxinus]

Wonder if he will do anything concrete about their ignorance like requiring them to take economics from a professor who actually believes in classical economics.

[jveritas]

I think you are right. Good for him.

[AmishDude]

a geography professor

Who would have guessed?

[LK44-40]

Oh la-la. Oh la-la-la-la-la-la.

This is gasoline on the fire.

[goldstategop]

The Sorbonne is a world class university. The French equivalent to the UK's Oxford and America's Harvard. I wonder if the good provost is going to be sacked for that turn of political incorrectness. The French have become a nation of snobs.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[stm]

".....Jean-Robert Pitte said the youngsters had no dreams but believed everything was due to them as a right without having to work for it."

Ain't socialism grand?

[dighton]

I mean, why is this newsworthy?

I wouldn’t have expected this breath of fresh air from the Sorbonne.

[metmom]

Are they still at it?

[trashcanbred]

It is news when the head of a US university states that socialism is for babies. For the head of a prestigious French university to say it was rather surprising.

Plus like many universities in France the Sorbonne has been closed down by the students though they do not control it like Nanterre.

[stm]

OMG I misread your post at first. I thought it said "What Chirac would say". For a second I thought you had lost your mind!!!

[trashcanbred]

I wondered the same thing, is this guy gonna get the axe like Lawrence Summers of Harvard.

[daybreakcoming]

Wonder what Dr Pitte's FReeper name is.....

[trashcanbred]

Hey Metmom... yes they are still at it. More stikes on Tuesday.

[marsh_of_mists]

Well, the Sorbonne is the most famous and prestigious university in France and one of the most prestigious in the world, so I'd say that's newsworthy.