 On August 6, 2018, Part-time Theatre Department instructors Cem Emüler, Özlem Ersönmez, İlham Yazar, and Meltem Keskin announced their resignation from Bilkent University.According to Emüler, after the departmental committee finalized the list of admitted students for the 2018-19 academic year, Hale updated the list without consulting them and added two students who had been previously rejected.Emüler presented this practice, which contradicts the established policies of the Department, as the reason for the admissions committee quitting their jobs.