Six students at Moscow State University were detained today by the police for handing out fliers appealing for support in their increasingly public campaign to change conditions, and the curricula, at the university’s sociology faculty. The six students later were released without charge. It was the second time that the police have intervened while students were distributing fliers; charges stemming from arrests on February 28 either have been thrown out or are under appeal.

Last week the university, one of Russia’s most prestigious higher-education institutions, took the rare step of creating a special commission to investigate the merits of the students’ demands, which range from providing an affordable cafeteria and more classroom space to overhauling the approach to teaching — which both current and former students say is overwhelmingly weighted toward theory, not practice. The campaign, remarkable for its tenacity and audacity in dealing with an administration unaccustomed to student criticism, has won the support of educators throughout Russia and Europe.