HISTORY OF SELCUK UNIVERSITY

Great importance has been given to the education system in every period of our history. As a matter of fact, one of the primary courses in the madrasahs that formed the backbone of this system was fiqh, that is, law. Specialization was mostly the issue in madrasahs. For example, İnceminareli Madrasa, one of the many madrasahs in Konya, was founded as dârü'lhadis and hadith was studied here. In Muslihiyye Madrasa, also known as Sırçalı Madrasa, fiqh education was at the forefront. In the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, especially during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, schools for vocational education began to be opened.

Until 1907, there was only one law school operating in Istanbul. However, due to the fact that this school could not meet the needs, a petition was submitted to the Bâbıâli by the prominent people of the period, which included the necessity of training mustantiks (judges of inquiry) and judges, and the inability of the law school in Istanbul to meet the demands. After the petition was accepted, it was decided to open new law schools in Thessaloniki, Baghdad and Konya. On September 10, 1907, a memorandum was sent to each of these three provinces, which would later form the foundations of our University's Faculty of Law, and instructions were given for the establishment of schools providing law education. Within this framework, as the first phase of the plan to establish a university in Konya, Konya Law School was established on Saturday, March 1, 1908, in a large mansion known as Çelebi Mansion, located in the Sedirler District close to the Mevlana Lodge, today near the Koyunoğlu Museum. In this context, the Konya Law School was the first higher education institution established in Anatolia during the Darülfünun period. The School had a four-year education period and only high school graduates could enroll in this School. Operating in Konya for 11 years and graduating 134 students during its operation, the School was originally opened as the first stage of the plan to establish a full-fledged university in Konya, but had to close its doors on March 15, 1919 due to World War I and the troubles that followed. Today, our University, which aims to contribute to society and humanity by raising qualified people, has started to come to life again in a short time on these solid foundations of its past.

In 1955, that is, during the Republic period, the issue of opening a university in Konya was brought to the agenda again with a bill prepared in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, but this bill, signed by more than half of the deputies, unfortunately could not pass the National Education Commission. In 1962, the Selcuk Institute of Education and the Higher Islamic Institute opened under the Ministry of National Education, marking the first serious step towards having a university. In order to strengthen and develop this first step, the Association for Establishing and Sustaining the University in Konya was founded in 1968, and as a result of outstanding efforts, the School of Engineering and Architecture, which constitutes the nucleus of our Engineering and Architecture faculties, was established. This college, which started to serve in a building belonging to the Child Protection Agency (next to Gazi High School) in the "1970 - 1971 Academic Year" with the efforts of the Association for the Establishment and Survival of the University, although it had no building, classrooms, staff and budget, was named Konya State Academy of Architecture and Engineering in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 1418 dated July 5, 1971. The transition process from these three schools, which constituted the preparation phase for the establishment of the university, to a more effective university took place in 1975. The establishment of four universities in our country was envisaged with the "Law No. 1873 on the Establishment of 4 Universities", which came into force on April 11, 1975, and Selcuk University was established based on this law. It started operating in the "1976 - 1977 Academic Year" with 2 faculties, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Letters, 7 departments, 327 students and 2 permanent faculty members.

The breakthrough year for Selcuk University was 1982. With the Decree Law No. 41 dated July 20, 1982, it was decided to merge the faculties of Science and Literature, which constituted the core of the University in the first place, and to transform them into the Faculty of Science and Literature. Subsequently, Selcuk Higher Teacher Training School was transformed into the Faculty of Education, Konya State Academy of Engineering and Architecture into the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, and Konya Higher Islamic Institute into the Faculty of Theology. In addition, the Faculties of Law, Medicine, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and the Institutes of Health, Science and Social Sciences were established, and the School of Foreign Languages was abolished and transformed into Konya Vocational School. In Niğde, Niğde Vocational School was established and the Girls' Art High Teacher Training School was transformed into the Girls' Art Education School and the Niğde Institute of Education was transformed into the School of Education. Thus, Selcuk University reached the level of 8 faculties, 4 colleges and 3 institutes with the Decree Law No. 41.

Until the end of the 2000s, Selcuk University experienced a rapid rise in physical, social, cultural and sports fields, especially in the scientific field, and the number of faculties within its body increased to 24 as of 2011. However, in December 2011, with the decision of the Council of Ministers and the approval of the then President Mr. Abdullah Gül, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education and Faculty of Theology located in Selcuk University Meram campus were affiliated to the second state university in Konya. On April 26, 2013, with the decision of the Council of Ministers published in the Official Gazette, Seydişehir Ahmet Cengiz Faculty of Engineering, Seydişehir Vocational School, Seydişehir Vocational School of Health Services, Ereğli Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Ereğli Faculty of Education and Konya Ereğli Kemal Akman Vocational School were also affiliated to the same university. In 2018, with Article 7 of the Law No. 7141 published in the Official Gazette, the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Vocational School of Technical Sciences within our University were affiliated to the third state university established in Konya.

Today, Selcuk University, which has 23 faculties, 7 institutes, 5 colleges, 1 conservatory, 23 vocational schools and 53 research centers, is among the largest educational institutions in Turkey with more than 70,000 students and over 7,000 staff.

REFERENCES (*)

• BOYSAL, Yusuf.  Selçuk Üniversitesi Kurulurken.
• EKİNCİ, Ekrem Buğra (1999). Konya Hukuk Mektebi ve Osmanlılarda Hukuk Öğrenimi. Tarih ve Medeniyet.
• YILMAZ, Yasin (2021). Konya Hukuk Mektebi (1908-1919), YILMAZ Yasin. hukukkitapligi.com
• YILMAZ, Yasin & KİREMİTÇİ, Mehmet (2022). Konya Hukuk Mektebi’nde Anayasa Hukuk Dersleri. Adalet Dergisi: 68 Sayı.