All regional public funding to Lyon 2 University has been cut over concerns about “Islamo-leftist drift” within the institution.
Laurent Wauquiez, former president and current member of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes where the establishment is situated, announced the decision on May 7, calling for an independent investigation into the university’s management.
“Alongside the regional president, we have decided to withdraw all regional funding from Lyon 2 University until these excesses are properly investigated,” he stated.
“I’ve always been clear. When the Mayor of Grenoble tried to allow the burkini [female full-body swimsuit] in municipal pools, I cut regional funding.
“Now, I’m confronting Islamo-leftism at Lyon 2,” Wauquiez said.
The right-leaning student union UNI welcomed the move, citing what it alleged was mismanagement and a perceived ideological bias within the university.
In a statement on X on May 7, it wrote: “The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is cutting subsidies to Lyon 2: From organising Iftars to repeated campus blockades and the abandonment of [Middle East specialist] Fabrice Balanche. The administration is in disarray. Well done, Laurent Wauquiez, for making the right call.”
A prestigious French academic publisher, Presses Universitaires de France, has halted the release of a book criticising “woke ideology” in Western higher education, citing an increasingly hostile political climate. https://t.co/2Ud7zNzjkM
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 11, 2025
The decision came amid mounting tensions at the university.
On May 5, Vice President Willy Beauvallet-Haddad resigned following controversy over comments linked to terrorist designated Hezbollah.
According to the French Ministry of Higher Education, Beauvallet-Haddad had shared posts on Facebook that praised the Lebanese Hezbollah group. The matter has reportedly been referred to the local judiciary.
Although his Facebook account is now inaccessible, posts attributed to Beauvallet-Haddad, some shared on X, expressed strong support for Palestinian resistance and admiration for Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
One reposted message described Sayyed Nasrallah as “a fraternal figure” who belongs among “the great figures of history”.
“The Sayyed is no more. The emotion of people in resistance overwhelms us. He was the true leader of post-civil war Lebanon,” the message continued. “Even those who did not align with Hezbollah saw in him a figure of moral integrity.”
UNI, which had flagged these posts to the university board, commented: “Willy Beauvallet has stepped down following revelations about his pro-Islamist sympathies. We welcome this outcome. Good riddance.”
The university has also seen rising tensions between the administration and activist student groups.
Recent clashes reportedly involved anti-racist and anti-colonial student activists confronting geopolitics professor Fabrice Balanche, a specialist on the Middle East.
The situation at Lyon 2 University has remained volatile as national debates over secularism and academic freedom have intensified in France.
Academics have called for the resignation of the president of France’s University of Lyon 2, Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen, over her treatment of a professor targeted by “anti-racist and anti-colonial students”. https://t.co/u8fU5817cO
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 22, 2025
