Below is the original page that disclosed the EGG fraud on Oct. 13th, 2025.
This page documents in some detail how four usurpers (M. Lohninger, D. Özyıldız, B. Gehrke and P. Charvatová) have made a putsch at the EGG, overthrowing democratic votes, deceiving the community, trying to take over control, and illegitimately speaking in the name of the EGG. This is a case of severe professional misconduct.
The documentation starts with a short summary and recaps what has happened, producing original documents.
1. Short summary of what happened since May 2025
2. text disclosing the coup, published on various mailing lists
3. EGG is organized by Dutch-registered association GLEE
4. establishment of a self-appointed “new” board
4.1. mail by D. Özyıldız on Sept. 28th, 2025
4.2. screenshot of the EGG site hijacked by the usurpers, where they pretend they are the organizers of the EGG.
5. minutes of the EGG board meeting on September 23rd, 2025
6. preparation of the EGG board meeting on Sept. 23rd, 2025
7. May-June 2025: the board does not adopt the proposal to introduce a Code of Conduct
7.1. History of the EGG board composition
7.2. Proposal, discussion and vote
7.3. M. Lohninger accepts the vote
Appendix: the EGG manifesto
1. Version agreed upon in September 2023 = why we do it
2. Old version, replaced in Sept. 2023
1. Short summary of what happened since May 2025
[written on Oct. 8th, 2025]
All facts mentioned are documented below.
1. voting members of the EGG board in May 2025: M. Lohninger, D. Özyıldız, E. Cyran, T. Scheer.
2. in early May, M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız introduce the proposal to have a Code of Conduct (CoC) at the EGG (they have adapted a text from the LSA). The proposal is discussed during the month of May.
3. in early June, a vote is called: 2 votes in favour (M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız), two votes in disfavour (E. Cyran, T. Scheer). Thus the proposal is not adopted. M. Lohninger explicitly accepts the vote.
4. in September, E. Cyran steps down and proposes A. Chabot for his replacement. This proposal is accepted by all board members and in a mail on Sept. 16th, M. Lohninger welcomes A. Chabot as a new board member.
5. in the same mail on Sept. 16th, M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız propose to modify the number of seats of the board, either by reducing it to three (one phonologist is eliminated), or by expanding it to six. Arguments are i) the workload, which is too high for four people (note the consistency with the option of reducing the seats from four to three) and ii) the fact that there are two phonologists (A. Chabot, T. Scheer), but only one syntactician (M. Lohninger) and one semanticist (D. Özyıldız).
Gerrymandering is when you cannot win a vote democratically and therefore change the voting body, to gain a majority. This was of course the real reason for trying to modify the number of seats.
6. on September 23rd, the board met in order to discuss the proposal. After an exchange of arguments, a vote was called, producing two votes in favour (M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız) and two votes against (A. Chabot, T. Scheer). Thus the proposal was not adopted.
7. after the vote, at the end of the meeting, M. Lohninger stepped down from the EGG board. She and D. Özyıldız had both announced beforehand, on several occasions, that they would not remain on the board if the number of seats would not be modified. D. Özyıldız did not step down, though, he said that he needs more time to think about the situation.
8. Independently and without disclosing anything, two former members (M. Lohninger, B. Gehrke) and one current member (D. Özyıldız), joined by Petra Charvatová (in charge of logistics, without voting rights) conspired to do the following:
– take control of the EGG website by canceling the access codes of A. Chabot and T. Scheer without consent of the latter.
– file a funding application to the Van Riemsdijk Foundation (VRF) in the name of the EGG.
9. on Sept. 28th, D. Özyıldız sent a mail to A. Chabot and T. Scheer revealing an attempt to hijack the EGG school and unilaterally install a self-appointed “new” board. In the name of the EGG, this “new” board had submitted to the VRF. One of the members of the (legitimate) board, T. Scheer, was invited to join the “new” board. Alex was ignored entirely.
Thus: bad faith actors expel you from your home, take control over the house, and then ask you whether you would like to come back and live a room, under their spell.
10. Stichting-GLEE immediately cuts all communication with the usurpers, who have no access to the EGG money anymore, which is managed on the GLEE bank account. GLEE only recognises the official EGG board and not any other self-proclaimed entity.
11. the legitimate board, that is to say the remaining duly elected members, submits the only legitimate funding application to the Van Riemsdijk Foundation (VRF), explaining and documenting the fraud: the usurpers have no right to speak in the name of the EGG.
12. on October, 8th, the Van Riemsdijk Foundation decides that in the current situation where two competing applications are made in the name of the same organization, none will be funded. VRF indicates that if a single, unified application reaches them by October 18th, it will be considered eligible for funding and sent out for review.
2. Text published on various mailing lists
Fraudulent attempt at hijacking the EGG
For more than 20 years, GLEE (Generative Linguistics in Eastern Europe), a Dutch-registered association, has organized the summer school EGG (Eastern Generative Grammar), each year in a different former communist country. The practical organization is done by a board that has four members. This has been the established structure of GLEE / EGG since the early 2000s.
On a board meeting on September 23rd, 2025, two board members introduced a proposal to enlarge the number of seats of the board. A vote produced two voices in favour (Magdalena Lohninger and Deniz Özyıldız), and two voices against (Alex Chabot and Tobias Scheer). Thus the proposal was not adopted. M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız had announced beforehand that they would not remain on the board in case the proposal did not go through. After the vote, but before the end of the meeting, M. Lohninger announced her resignation from the board, while D. Özyıldız said he would need more time to think about the situation before making a decision.
After the meeting, M. Lohninger and D. Özyıldız, together with former board member Berit Gehrke and Petra Charvatová (in charge of logistics), ignoring the result of the vote, summarily reconstituted an arbitrary board outside the bounds of the EGG’s established procedures, in order to take control of the EGG. This “board”, composed of the aformentioned four individuals, is illegitimate, in that it was built unilaterally, without the consent of the duly elected board-members, and in an effort to nullify the results of the vote held on September 23rd, thereby circumventing the long-standing and established operational norms of the EGG.
Their first two actions were:
1. To take control of the EGG website https://www.eggschool.org/ by blocking the access of the other regular board members and removing their names without their consent;
2. To file an application for funding at the Van Riemsdijk Foundation (VRF) in the name of the EGG and under the direction of their own self-appointed board
Thus, the four individuals on this summary board have ignored the results of a democratic vote carried out within the established norms of the board, fraudulently taken the mantle of the EGG school, and claim to represent the EGG and its interests despite their irregular appropriation of authority. We are deeply shocked by these unethical actions, which represent a severe case of professional misconduct.
This open letter is to disclose what has happened to the community, so that our colleagues can be informed and understand that the illegitimate attempted seizure of the EGG means the board constituted by the four individuals named above is engaging in professional misconduct if they attempt to:
1. Make funding requests in the name of the EGG
2. Recruit the help of local organizers for the 2026 school venue
We, the signers of this letter, have a deep respect for the mission of the EGG and the democratic norms by which it has operated since its founding more than 20 years ago. We feel we would be remiss if we did not do our part to let the community know what is happening, so that they may make an informed decision should they be approached concerning either of the above necessary aspects of organizing and hosting the school.
Alex Chabot
Tobias Scheer
3. GLEE has organized the EGG for more than 20 years
The roof organization of the EGG is a Dutch-registered association called STICHTING Generative Linguistics in Eastern Europe (GLEE). GLEE organizes the summer school EGG (Eastern Generative Grammar), each year in a former communist country. The practical organization is done by a board that has four members.
Stichting-GLEE has its seat in Utrecht, The Netherlands (registration number 41265102 at the Chamber of Commerce Utrecht).
All financial matters of the EGG school are hosted on the GLEE bank account, which receives all funding from third parties. Thus in previous years, funding from GLOW and the Van Riemsdijk Foundation (VRF) have been transferred to the GLEE account.
After the fraud was apparent, GLEE has immediately cut all communication with the self-appointed board members, who have no access to this money anymore.
GLEE only recognises the official EGG board and not any other self-proclaimed entity.
4. Establishment of a self-appointed “new” board
4.1. email by D. Özyıldız on Sept. 28th, 2025
- informing the regular members of the board about the coup, the summary reconstitution of a “new” board and their non-consensual exclusion from this made-up entity.
- inviting one of the regular members (but not the other) to join the “new” board.
- to sum up: the bad-faith actors expel you from your home, take control over the house, and then ask you whether you would like to come back and live a room under their spell.
Sujet : VRF application
Date : Sun, 28 Sep 2025 18:56:11 +0000
De : Özyildiz, Deniz deniz.ozyildiz@ling.uni-stuttgart.de
Pour : berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de, magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at, petracharvat@gmail.com petracharvat@gmail.com, Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr
Copie à : chabot@umd.edu chabot@umd.edu
Dear Tobias,
we are writing to let you know that we have submitted an application to the VRF for the funding of EGG 2026. We have applied with the usual name, but with a new board structure.
The board consists now of five people, (syntax, semantics, phonology, and two logistics people), all with an equal right to vote on all decisions made. All but the phonology spot, which is open, are now filled by Lena, Deniz, Berit and Petra.
We also write to ask if you would like to take the phonology spot, and sincerely hope that you will be able to find it in you to accept it. We know how invested you are in the EGG, and our main priority is the school as well.
It is also very important to us that we do not leave our interactions on a bitter note.
Best,
Berit, Deniz, Lena, and Petra
4.2. screenshot of the EGG site hijacked by the usurpers, where they pretend they are the organizers of the EGG.
Screenshot 2025-09-29 at 12-30-41
5. Minutes of the EGG board meeting on September 23rd, 2025
On Sept. 23rd, 2025, at 2:30 pm CEST, the EGG board met on Zoom. The following persons were present:
1. Deniz Özyıldız (board member)
2. Alex Chabot (board member)
3. Magdalena Lohninger (board member)
4. Tobias Scheer (board member)
5. Petra Charvatová (in charge of logistics)
The board discussed a proposal introduced by M. Lohninger and D. Özyildiz aiming at enlarging the board by two additional members, one for syntax and another one for semantics.
The presentation of the project and the exchange of arguments ran until about 3 pm, when a vote was called. Two votes were in favour of the project, two votes in disfavour (the logistics person does not take part in votes). The project having not won a majority of votes, it was not adopted.
In the wake of this vote, Magdalena Lohninger declared that she steps down from the board with immediate effect.
Petra Charvatová had already announced that she would also like to leave the EGG organization, and her stepping down was also effective at the end of the meeting.
6. Preparation of the EGG board meeting on Sept. 23rd, 2025
Below is the mail by M. Lohninger from Sept. 16th, 2025, where she
1. welcomes Alex Chabot as a new board member. A. Chabot was succeeding to Eugeniusz (Gienek) Cyran, who had decided to step down and proposed A. Chabot to replace him. After looking at A. Chabot’s CV. the three other board members agreed. This is how renewals on the EGG board have always worked: the leaving member proposes a successor, and the board validates.
2. explains the workings of the board: 4 members (A. Chabot, M. Lohninger, D. Özyıldız, T. Scheer), one person in charge of logistics (who does not vote on anything board-related).
3. introduces the project proposed by D. Özyıldız and herself, consisting of either reducing or expanding the number of seats of the board. This was an attempt at gerrymandering, see XXX.
4. mentions that the board needs to make a decision on the proposal because the funding application at VRF (Van Riemsdijk Foundation) is due Oct. 1st.
5. says that leaving the board as it is is “not an option” for her and D. Özyıldız.
6. sets up a when2meet in order to find a spot for the board meeting (the screenshot of the when2 meet is below).
7. asks former board member B. Gehrke to join the meeting.
8. mentions that P. Charvatová, in charge of logistics, is about to step down.
——– Message transféré ——–
Sujet : EGG meeting next week
Date : Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:44:43 +0200
De : Lohninger Magdalena magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at
Pour : Petra Charvat petracharvat@gmail.com, Deniz Özyıldız deniz.ozyildiz@uni-konstanz.de, Tobias Scheer Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr, chabot@umd.edu
Copie à : Berit Gehrke berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de
Hi everyone,
welcome Alex! I don’t know if Gienek has informed you already, but we’ll need to have another zoom meeting next week to discuss a new board structure.
The board as it is now consists of 2 phonology members (you and Tobias), 1 syntax member (me), 1 semantics member (Deniz) and 1 organizational member without a right to vote on anything board-related (currently Petra but she’ll leave).
As Deniz and I feel that this is an uneven distribution, both in terms of workload as well as inbalance among the single tracks, we propose the following two options for a new board setup:
A) 2 syntax, 2 semantics, 2 phonology members (–> we need to find a new semantics and syntax member)
B) 1 phonology, 1 semantics, 1 syntax member + 1 or 2 organizing members (–> we need to find 1 or 2 new organizing members)
Leaving it as it is for “political reasons”, as Tobias suggested, is not an option for us.
We agreed to meet again in the beginning of next week to finalize this discussion. Here’s a when2meet to find a date:
https://www.when2meet.com/?32379681-xF88z
The VRF grant application is due on October 1, thus the hurry. By then we should have agreed on something.
@Berit, idk if you want to join the zoom meeting. I feel having you adds a good balance as you can lead the vote, but you are obviously not obliged to do so.
Best, Lena
7. May-June 2025: the board does not adopt the proposal to introduce a Code of Conduct
7.1. History of the EGG board composition
First some history of the EGG board composition, necessary to understand what follows.
In 2024, board members were
1. Eugeniusz (Gienek) Cyran
2. Berit Gehrke
3. András Bárány
4. Tobias Scheer
5. Petra Charvatová (in charge of logistics, does not vote on board-related issues)
In fall 2024 after the EGG school in Novi Sad, two members stepped down and proposed a person to replace them: B. Gehrke handed over to D. Özyildiz, and A. Bárány was replaced by M. Lohninger.
From that on, even though she was not a board member anymore, B. Gehrke was still around to help her successor. A. Bárány did not pursue any activity.
7.2. Proposal, discussion and vote
In May 2025, L. Lohninger and D. Özyildiz introduced the idea to have a Code of Conduct (CoC) at the EGG (adapted from the LSA), in addition or replacement of what is called the EGG manifesto. This manifesto is still online at https://www.eggschool.org/manifesto/ on the hijacked EGG website as we write (8 Oct. 2025), but sure will be eliminated by the the bad-faith actors: the text appears in Appendix 1 below, as well as a screenshot of it [Screenshot 2025-09-29 at 12-30-41].
The text of the manifesto is the result of a discussion that took place on the board in September 2023: B. Gehrke and A. Bárány (then board members) introduced it, in replacement of the old manifesto, whose 2005 version appears in Appendix 2 below. After discussion, all board members agreed.
The proposal to introduce a CoC in addition or replacement of the recently modified manifesto was discussed by the board in May 2025. Arguments were exchanged, and a vote was called in early June. The result is documented in the mail below: two votes in favour (L. Lohninger and D. Özyildiz), two votes in disfavour (E. Cyran, T. Scheer). Thus the proposal was not adopted. The result of the vote is documented in the mail below.
——– Message transféré ——–
Sujet : result votes
Date : Wed, 4 Jun 2025 10:32:00 +0200
De : Tobias Scheer Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr
Pour : Özyildiz, Deniz deniz.ozyildiz@ling.uni-stuttgart.de, Magdalena Lohninger magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at, Petra Charvat petracharvat@gmail.com, Berit Gehrke berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de, e.cyran@uw.edu.pl e.cyran@uw.edu.pl
Dear all,
thanks Deniz. Thus we have a draw.
This mail is just for the records, so that we won’t have to dig into dozens of mails later on to see the result.
The EGG board voted on the following question
“should we have a Code of Conduct additional to the manifesto?”
Of four votes, two were YES and two were NO.
Best,
Tobias
7.3. M. Lohninger accepts the vote
A week after the vote on June 11th, 2025, M. Lohninger writes a mail on organizing matters, saying at the end that she thanks everyone for voting and me for summarizing the results. She also says that it would be a good thing to announce at the EGG opening that students can always reach out to the organizers in case they feel uncomfortable. In my reply the same day, I say that I agree.
Both mails are appended below.
——– Message transféré ——–
Sujet : Re: EGG course schedule: additional room week 4
Date : Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:18:32 +0200
De : Tobias Scheer Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr
Pour : Magdalena Lohninger magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at, Berit Gehrke berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de, Petra Charvat petracharvat@gmail.com, Deniz Özyıldız deniz.ozyildiz@ling.uni-stuttgart.de, e.cyran@uw.edu.pl e.cyran@uw.edu.pl
Hi Lena,
thanks for the update. I’ve penciled in room 4 to accommodate Reiss’ 2nd class:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jlzu0ka6nJJGXCBrluUJKAgsCb6STJ7hWdom6L-QJA4/edit?gid=0#gid=0
>As Gienek said, I’d find it very important to stress in the beginning of the school (I guess we’ll do some opening remarks or smth like that?) that students can always reach out to us, in person or via email, when they feel uncomfortable.
I agree.
Best,
Tobias
——– Message transféré ——–
Sujet : EGG course schedule: additional room week 4
Date : Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:57:37 +0200
De : Magdalena Lohninger magdalena.lohninger@univie.ac.at
Organisation : University of Vienna, Linguistics
Pour : Tobias Scheer Tobias.Scheer@univ-cotedazur.fr, Cyran Eugeniusz eugeniusz.cyran@kul.pl, Berit Gehrke berit.gehrke@hu-berlin.de, Deniz Özyıldız deniz.ozyildiz@uni-konstanz.de, Petra Charvat petracharvat@gmail.com
Hi everyone,
Veno managed to reserve a 4th room for us in week 2, free of charge. So Tobias, if Charles still wants to teach 2 courses, this could be an option. John Bailyn just now updated me that he actually prefers to not teach in week 2, and I still haven’t heard back from Natasha… so for the syntax people, it seems as if we probably won’t even need the extra room – anyways, we have it now, maybe it can be of use for other things.
Deniz, you said you’d go through the finances again, do you have a rough overview how we are money-wise? If John doesn’t teach syntax in week 2 and Natasha decides to change to week 1 eventually, we only have 3 syntax courses in week 2. That seems fairly little to me, so I was thinking of maybe asking someone else from close-by (Europe) for another advanced course in week 2 (only if we’re good with money – but since my syntax teachers so far are extremely cheap anyways, I was hoping there might be something left).
As for the CoC and vote: thanks everyone for voting and Tobias for summarizing the results. As Gienek said, I’d find it very important to stress in the beginning of the school (I guess we’ll do some opening remarks or smth like that?) that students can always reach out to us, in person or via email, when they feel uncomfortable.
Best, Lena
Appendix: the EGG manifesto
1. Version agreed upon in September 2023
On this site: Why we do it
2. Old version, replaced in Sept. 2023
Egg’s Guiding Principles
1. To provide programmes of modern linguistic studies to students from areas of the world where such are either unavailable or extremely rare. The objective is to offer these programmes at a cost affordable by students from these areas (and ideally free of charge). In our current state of development, our main focus is on Central and Eastern Europe
2. To provide a more informal atmosphere of student-teacher interaction encouraging a more relaxed interchange of ideas. Emphasis is placed on challenging ideas rather than accepting them or memorising them. The aim is to replace the more traditional Professor-Student relationship with one more conducive to the promotion of independent thought and critical analysis.
3. To provide opportunities for newly appointed lecturers and advanced postgraduate students to offer courses in these programmes. This point, which we deem valuable in itself, also contributes to the first two principles.