COMENIUS UNIVERSITY WILL CONTINUE TO HONOUR 17 NOVEMBER AS A HOLIDAY
Bratislava, 9 June 2025: The academic community perceives 17 November as an extraordinary day. The Rector of Comenius University Bratislava (CU) therefore announced that a symbolic rector's day off would be declared on this day, despite the planned cancellation of the day of rest.
The announced cancellation of the day of rest on 17 November, known as the Day of the Fight for Freedom and Democracy and International Students' Day, has already drawn criticism from some student and youth organizations. Although the discussion about the economic impact of rest days is fully legitimate and the argument about the financial burden of an excessive number of such general holidays is generally acceptable, the academic community nevertheless considers 17 November to be a day whose extraordinary character deserves a specific approach. As part of a public debate, the management of Comenius University Bratislava is advocating to keep 17 November in the catalogue of public holidays as a day of rest.
“On 17 November 1939 the Nazis closed Czech universities, executed nine students, and sent more than a thousand others to concentration camps. 17 November 1989 is the day on which the process leading to the fall of the communist totalitarian regime was launched. It is the day when we began to build academic self-government. Therefore, it deserves our attention, recognition and respect across the entire society,” said Comenius University Rector Marek Števček.
"The day of 17 November goes to the very core of Comenius University. Several events of November 1989 took place in our premises, and were driven by our students. From the legendary student march of 16 November to the discussions in our Auditorium, it was the courage of young people that sparked the societal change. Because of it, we can now freely create, study, and travel. That is why I plan to declare a rector's day off on 17 November, 2025, in order to commemorate the legacy of the November events, regardless of the formal form of the holiday. I hope that Comenius University will maintain this tradition in the future, and the instances of student resistance from 1939 and 1989 will be preserved in our collective academic memory," added Števček.