BIHE has a decentralized and fluid structure and uses a hybrid approach of offline and online delivery methods which has enabled it to grow under unusual sociopolitical circumstances.
Despite numerous arrests, periodic raids, several imprisonments, mass confiscation of school equipment and general harassment, BIHE has continued and even expanded its operation.
Since its birth in the 19th century, the Baháʼí community of Iran has faced different forms of persecution[2][3][4][5] including hostile propaganda and censorship, social exclusion, denial of education and employment, confiscation and destruction of property, arson, unjustified arrests and imprisonment, physical and psychological torture, death threats, arbitrary executions and disappearances.
[3] The Islamic Revolution of 1979 intensified the persecutions and made Baháʼís – the largest religious minority of the country – the target of a systematic state-sponsored campaign of repression.
[5] In a collective effort, a small core of professors, lecturers and researchers who had been discharged from their jobs because of membership in the religion worked on developing an informal network of higher education.
[3][5][17] With the advent of the internet and increasing assistance from collaborators abroad, BIHE's curricular standards were bolstered and a wider range of majors and concentrations was introduced.
[19] In its early days, BIHE functioned like a correspondence school with faculty and students exchanging lessons and assignments via the state-run postal system.
[21] Upon noticing that the government had been examining and intercepting the mail packages to disrupt the university's work, the BIHE devised its own courier service through volunteer messengers, who collected assignments from all the students in a locality by motorbike, sorted them and then delivered them to the professors.
[12] The institute is decentralized and its functions reach the entire country through a combination of in-person and online classes with the former being held at the homes of students, faculty and other volunteer members of the community.
Lecturers construct their courses free from the prescriptions of a single organizational body and a networks of teaching assistants collaborate in the actual delivery of education.
[3] The university also drew on the expertise of a small and anonymous group of Baháʼí academics in North America, Europe and Australia, who sent the latest textbooks and research papers, occasionally made visits to Iran as guest lecturers, and otherwise provided instructional and technical support.
[5] With the expansion of the online capabilities of the BIHE over the past decade or so, the university has also been assisted by a large and growing number of volunteer professors from around the world who form its Affiliated Global Faculty (AGF).
[12][13] The effectiveness of BIHE to deliver curricula has been studied, finding it to be a "social space" that enables Baháʼí students and staff to remain academically and socially engaged; to bond and share with peers and colleagues equally suffering from religious persecution; and to live up to principles such as learning, community service, and resistance in times of socio-political marginalization[42] as well surviving because of international support, community sacrifices, and individual resiliency.
[47] Iranian authorities have continuously sought to disrupt the BIHE's operation by raiding hundreds of Baháʼí homes and offices associated with it, by confiscating university materials and property and by arresting and imprisoning faculty members and administration staff.
"[55] Spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations said the raids on BIHE were because it "systematically controlled activities of cult members, and ... interfered in their private, social and economic lives."
[23] Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and East Timor president José Ramos-Horta signed an open letter calling on Iran to unconditionally drop the charges against the Baha'i educators.
[2][23] Christian Solidarity Worldwide[60] and the Union of Jewish Students[61] urged Iran to end its discriminatory educational policies of Baháʼís.
[23] An international set of 43 academic theologians and philosophers – of Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim backgrounds – signed an open letter, published in The Daily Telegraph (UK), and reported in the Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil) condemning the attacks in 2011.
In March 2012, the American Physical Society Committee on International Freedom of Scientists reiterated its 2010 support[65] for Baháʼí students not being denied education in requesting the arrested lectures be released.
Through personal stories, interviews and rare footage, the film unveils decades of social injustice and religious intolerance against the Baha'i community of Iran.
[69][70] Grassroots screenings of the film and panel discussions have been part of "Education Is Not a Crime" campaign and its website featured voices of support from people around the world.
[70] The campaign had a global day of action on 27 February 2015 in which a major event titled "Education is not a crime Live 2015" was organized in Los Angeles along with hundreds of other screenings around the world.
[67][68][71] Nobel Peace laureates such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi, Tawakkol Karman, Jody Williams, and Mairead Maguire have endorsed the campaign.
[68][71] It has also received support from a number of artists and intellectuals including Nazanin Boniadi, Abbas Milani, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Azar Nafisi, Omid Djalili, Eva LaRue, Mohammad Maleki, former president of the University of Tehran and Mark Ruffalo.
[68] Following developments reported on October 13, 2011, by the UN Secretary General with a report on "The situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran",[72] specifically citing the raids,[73][74] Nobel Laureates Desmond Tutu and José Ramos-Horta wrote an open letter calling for the immediate release of the Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education professors and other initiatives[29] which is part of a program of action that is called Education Under Fire (EUF).
Screenings of the documentary often with discussions and action agenda items for the campaign have been held or are scheduled for 2012 at a wide number of universities and colleges in the United States,[86] Canada,[87] and Italy.
[95] The campaign has also received televised local news coverage in New York (WNBC),[96] Miami (WTVJ)[97] as well as Houston community radio (KPFT).
"Education Under Fire" is a documentary produced by Single Arrow Productions and co-sponsored by Amnesty International, which profiles the growth, struggle, and spirit of the BIHE.
[104] "To Light a Candle" is another documentary film by journalist Maziar Bahari, premiered in 2014, which focuses on the stories of the individuals associated with the attempted shutdown of BIHE.
For instance, Iranian Taboo, a 2011 documentary film by Dutch film-maker Reza Allamehzadeh, which focuses on the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran, has some references to BIHE.