I am a very proud senior lecturer at the University of Malta. The University gave me a brilliant education and a fulfilling academic career for which I am hugely indebted and grateful.

I first joined the University as a student well over 30 years ago, and over the years I have seen it grow steadily from strength to strength in numbers, excellence and prestige. I am extremely proud of the achievements of my colleagues and students, many of who have forged brilliant careers locally and abroad. Whenever and wherever I have represented the University I have always, unfailingly, received respect and compliments for my institution. The University of Malta undoubtedly punches far above its weight in terms of academic excellence and international repute. 

And this is why I feel deeply ashamed, humiliated and betrayed by the decision to temporarily turn the University sports complex into a car park.

Firstly, I feel ashamed because this decision puts expediency before principle. The main argument to justify this decision is that it is a temporary measure to solve an urgent problem. There are no lives at stake in this urgency. The scenario here is not one of rescuing people from burning buildings or anything of the sort. What is at stake here is the convenience of finding a parking space close to one’s lecture hall or office.

Of course, it is a good thing for students and faculty members to find places to park on the University grounds, but a convenience is not an inalienable right.

This situation has arisen because the University has temporarily closed one of the campus car parks in order to develop it into much needed facilities. In the real world such development and future benefits come at a cost. The cost here is reduced parking space and the inconvenience of having to park farther away from campus, for the time being.

To decide that the sports complex is expendable for the sake of convenience is to put expediency before principle. It is a simple quick fix that says a lot about our principles and priorities. The sports complex is what its name implies; any other use of it is abusive as it diminishes its purpose and undermines its objectives.

Is it right that the leading institution that should be shining a beacon to the rest of this country is willing to ditch principle for the sake of convenience? No, it is not right. It is shameful, and in doing so, it is also absconding its duty to seek the best interests of its members and the public in general.

The decision is wrong and also immoral because it panders to the wishes and convenience of the majority while punishing a vulnerable minority.

Is it right that the leading institution which should be shining a beacon to the rest of this country is willing to ditch principle for the sake of convenience?

Yes, it is true that most students are not athletes and that the sports complex is not generally bursting at the seams with athletes. Active, health-conscious people, and athletes in particular, are in the clear minority. But they are the ones shining the light towards a brighter future for this nation. They are the ones making extra sacrifices to keep themselves healthy and to inspire friends, colleagues and others to adopt healthier lifestyles.

This rare breed should be protected and supported, not punished and humiliated. To place the needs and rights of a guiding minority at the mercy of the convenience of the majority is immoral and unjust.

When the promised day finally arrives that this sports complex is given its much-deserved complete overhaul, then athletes will happily endure the inconvenience of temporarily losing these facilities, as this would be the fair cost for their future bene­fits. But that day has not arrived yet and it is other facilities that are being built. Sports facilities have been targeted for sacrifice simply because their users happen to be a vulnerable minority. Is it right to take away essential resources from a minority group to give these resources to a majority in order to reduce inconvenience? No, it is not right, it is populist and unjust.

One measure of justice in any society is its willingness and ability to safeguard the rights of minorities against the will and convenience of the majority. On this measure, this decision undermines justice in favour of populism.

The decision also lacks vision because it reflects a defunct mentality of demarca­ting between physical and mental health. The University has made great strides forward by setting up faculties and adopting policies that are based on the awareness and conviction that physical and mental wellbeing are one and the same. There is little doubt that the greatest health-related challenges that this country is facing, and will continue to face in the next few genera­tions, stem from the mistaken belief that education and intellectual wellbeing can be separated from, and achieved at the expense of, physical health and fitness.

The decision to turn the sports complex into a car park betrays the underlying belief that physical education is secondary and subordinate to other forms of knowledge. This decision shows clearly that physical education is not regarded on a par with other educational facilities. No one would ever imagine that the University library, laboratories or lecture halls would be sacrificed for parking space. This would indeed be shocking. The fact that turning a sports complex into a car park is not regarded as equally shocking betrays an underlying belief that physical education is secondary to other ‘real’ academic domains.

These assumptions and beliefs, which underlie this decision, betray a lack of vision which does not bode well for the improvement of this country’s present dismal health record. 

If the above arguments hold, this decision is wrong in principle, it is unjust, and moreover, it betrays defunct underlying beliefs about human development and wellbeing.

I honestly trust that the powers that be at the University take on the challenge to show themselves as worthy visionary leaders by doing what is right rather than what is convenient. They should immediately reverse this decision and allow the members of the health-conscious active minority to pursue their activities in a peaceful and safe environment, which these sports facilities were designed for and intended to provide. 

Clive Zammit is a lecturer at the Department of Cognitive Science at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences.