What is the role of the university in a social movement of this scale? They forced thousands of students to ask a question Indian universities have spent decades avoiding: what do you owe us when the system fails? What is the role of the university in a social movement of this scale? AdvertisementEven more indicative than the initial silence of universities was the language through which some institutions eventually addressed their students. Delhi University’s advisory opened with the reassurance that students’ safety mattered.