[6] Boğaziçi University is a center of attraction for students who excel in the nation-wide entrance examination, as well as for distinguished faculty.

[9] The college, which was established as an institution of higher learning independent of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) yet holding a significant number of missionaries among its faculty in its earlier years, adopted an entirely secular and non-denominational educational model in 1923 in compliance with the new republican principles of Turkey.

"[13] On 10 September 1971, Robert College bequeathed today's South Campus of 118 acres, including buildings, the library, laboratories, and all facilities and personnel, to the Turkish government.

During the years of martial law, Boğaziçi University was under the administration of a rector externally appointed by the newly established Council of Higher Education.

The top-down appointment of Melih Bulu, an external candidate with close ties to the Justice and Development Party, on 2 January 2021 represented a radical and unprecedented intervention in the university's governance.

[23] Following this, Naci İnci, another government-backed contender was appointed to the office, despite receiving a 95% no confidence vote and the existence of 17 alternative candidates approved by the faculty.

[24][25] The imposition of Bulu and İnci as rectors in spite of outspoken opposition from the faculty signaled a political takeover of Boğaziçi.

[29][30] The annulment decision will come into force after 12 months, and the Turkish Grand National Assembly will have to make new legal regulations within this period.

Unprecedented academic interventions followed immediately after the appointment of the first imposed rector Melih Bulu who initiated a set of operations to transform the university's modus operandi.

[46] In retaliation to the protests against the interventions of the new administration, a series of investigations were initiated against full- and part-time academicians, as well as retired and emeritus professors.

Belongings of the centers - files, documents, equipment, research projects, etc.-  were put in trash bags and dumped in remote locations on the campus.

On 10 June 2022, four professors from the university's Council of Information Technologies revealed the violation of General Data Protection Regulation rights of 60,000+ Boğaziçi members (students, academicians, personnel, and graduates).

[71][72][73][74][75] Additional accusations of technical mismanagement have stemmed from an arbitrary and disruptive change to the university's domain name.

[80][81] Since immediately after Bulu's appointment, the university's campuses have been constantly surrounded by armed vehicles and police forces.

The presence of increasing numbers of security personnel and plainclothes police officers in the campus is coupled with the installation of hundreds of surveillance cameras around the university premises.

More than a hundred individuals with ties to Boğaziçi University, alumni, retired and emeriti faculty members, have been blacklisted by the appointed administration and are not allowed to enter the institution.

A 2023 decision by the rectorate prohibited all retired and emeriti faculty members who are not currently teaching any courses from entering the university grounds.

[95][96] While the layout and texture of the historical core of the university remains intact, heavy security measures and police presence has had the effect of depopulating the campus and minimizing student socialization.

Students, who made Boğaziçi a hub of vivid social and cultural activity, now prefer to spend time outside the campus grounds.

[97][98] The ongoing resistance to the seizure of administrative control, which began with the 2021 Boğaziçi University protests, has received support through declarations and awards by national and international academic institutions and associations.

[38][101][102][103][104][105] The means of resistance of the faculty members include refusal to cooperate with the imposed administration, daily vigils, weekly bulletins, lawsuits, public statements, departmental joint declarations, open courses and presenting and defending the BU case at international conferences and academic associations.

[110] Alumni of Boğaziçi University have supported the resistance by joining the vigils, organizing various events and public declarations.

[111] A large number of national and international institutions,[112][113] as well as individuals including Noam Chomsky, David Harvey, and Judith Butler[114][115] have acknowledged and expressed their support for the resistance of Boğaziçi University.

Boğaziçi's First Men's and Women's Dorms are housed in some of the oldest buildings in the historic South Campus and offer students the chance to participate in the university's active social life.