 Thank goodness, Bilkent ranks as a serious and dignified academic
institution - also a humorous and funny one. Like so many other outstanding universities
(say Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Princeton, Sorbonne et al), it knows how to synthesize
sobriety and levity, high mindedness and sense of humor. Best teachers everywhere -
certainly at Bilkent - blend earnest instruction with good-natured jokes. Hardly a
paradise for frolics, Bilkent lives on as a genial milieu.
So, although Bilkenters smile, chortle, and sometimes roar with laughter, why is it that
our Bilkent News has no “humor column”? Why does it never carry
cartoons? Why don’t we ever read anything that could be characterized as “campus
follies”? Well, we shall from now on. I hope and pray that this “humor column,” that
is being inaugurated right now, will usher in a new age of Bilkent fun. What do I mean by
this? All types of droll incidents that take place, witty remarks made or lovely jokes
cracked, biting and exciting satire, everyday comedy we create and enjoy… This is the
Bilkent miracle. Bilkent is where we learn together and laugh together.
Ready for a great laugh? In the past few years, some rumor-mongers have asked me: "Is
it true that Bilkent is being sold to Americans? To Germany?" Hearing these
absurdities, I laugh my head off.
Bilkent isn't up for sale. On the contrary, it is sailing full speed ahead.
A grotesque falsification appeared the other day on a website. This cock-and-bull story
claims that Bilkent University is being sold to a group and that negotiations are
underway!
About this cockamamie fib, our Rector Ali Doğramacı has quipped: "Decades ago, the
legendary imposter 'Sülün Osman' had sold the Galata Bridge to a moron. Now he is
selling Bilkent."
Before proceeding to denounce and ridicule the website (after all, the internet is sacred
and above suspicion, like Caesar's wife), I tried to be a conscientious reporter and
checked the veracity of the story with Prof. Osman Sülün himself, who eloquently assured
me: "Some smart aleck is doing his best to outdo me. I must admit, whoever he is,
he's pretty good. By the way, would you be interested in buying the Esenboğa Airport at a
bargain price?"
"Thanks a lot, Prof. Osman Sülün, for your honest clarification. I'll tell
Bilkenters that they can laugh their smart heads off about the cock-and-Esenboğa
story."
Rest assured, Bilkent is not and will never be for sale. By law and love, it will stay the
way it is - and it will sail on.
Believe it or not, Bilkent News is hereby launching it's humor corner
which will appear as frequently as humanly possible. Enjoy your Funny-versity.
Prof. Talat Halman
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