The UAB opens a new academic year dedicated to the rights of migrant people
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine, founded the same year as the UAB, the 2018/19 academic year was officially opened with a ceremony held at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, location of the faculty's first lectures in 1968. Òscar Camps was in charge of delivering the inaugural speech.
07/09/2018
The Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, located in Barcelona, played host on 6 September to the inauguration of the new 2018/19 academic year at the UAB and the rest of the Catalan university system. It included the presence of President of the Catalan Government Quim Torra, and other official authorities. The inaugural speech was given by Òscar Camps, founder and director of Proactiva Open Arms, who affirmed that aiding migrants and refugees "is a pragmatic and moral decision".
That is why, from both a moral and pragmatic point of view, Camps defended the act of migrating as something that "forms part of who we are" and cannot "be opened and closed as a tap". He also reminded attendants that in the face of a "global process" of population ageing, societies such as ours must think more about "not preventing their arrival, but encouraging them to do so". He was also very critical about the "post-truth" which disinforms about the phenomenon of migration and specifically that which "criminalises" migrant people. The UAB focused on this issue not only in the inaugural ceremony, but will also be dedicating a series of activities on the subject throughout this academic year.
Fifty Years of Medicine
The famous Barcelona art nouveau site was chosen as the location of the event because the facilities at the Hospital of Santa Creu i Sant Pau were the first to house the Faculty of Medicine, in 1968, the same year as the founding of the UAB (pel mateix motiu, el curs passat va ser inaugurat al Monestir de Sant Cugat del Vallès, on va arrencar aleshores l'activitat de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres). Due to the weather, the ceremony was transferred from the central gardens of the hospital to two inner halls.
Miquel Vilardell, emeritus professor of internal medicine at the UAB, spoke on the origins of the centre, reminiscing on how Sant Pau had already been a university hospital during the Second Republic of Spain, and affiliated with the first autonous university of Barcelona (founded in 1933 and dissolved under Franco's dictatorship). From this institution, Vilardell explained that the UAB, in its origins, included the "fundamentals of university autonomy, Catalanism and internal democracy", as well as a commitment to "hospital decentralisation". He also spoke on some of the figures behind the Faculty of Medicine and affirmed that "the success in teaching and research" of the centre was achieved "thanks to all of those who have strived to maintain it in these past fifty years".
Award for the Archaeology and Palaeontology Campus
The event also included musical performances by Orpheus XXI and the UAB Choir, and concluded with the contemporary dance company Sol Picó offering an urban street dance performance entitled Halab. The Jaume Vicens Vives 2018 Awards were also presented, in which the research, teaching and dissemination tasks of the UAB Archaeology and Palaeontology Campus was recognised. The award was collected by Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Joan Carbonell. The award was also given to the UPF's Hacklab project, the Submarine Robotics Workshop of the UdG Technical School, the URV Social Gardens Project, and individually to Pere Pascual (UPC), Diana Ferrer (URL) and Teresa Sancho (UOC).
In the institutional speeches, Rector of the UAB Margarita Arboix characterised the present moment as a "passionate time in the history of universities" thanks to the challenges posed by social and technological transformations. "We cannot let down a society which is counting on us", she stated, adding that there was a need to propose "new academic programmes and new methodologies", as well as strengthen "the balance" between "professional objectives and objectives based on acquiring values".
"Urgent Reforms"
According to Rector Arboix, there is an "urgent need for reforms" in the university system to make it more independent and financially stable, as well as to solve issues such as ageing faculty members, tuition fees and the quality of research. She lamented the fact that the university "has not formed part of the priorities of our leaders" in these past years and assured the attendants that higher education institutions "have survived the crisis, but are currently in an extreme situation, which if not mended, will cause us to disappear from the international arena".
President of the UAB Social Council Gabriel Masfurroll voiced his agreement with the need to provide universities with more resources, and stated that funding is one of the four top challenges faced by Catalonia's universities, in addition to relations with businesses, the social perception ("the university is not only of interest to students and lecturers, but to society as a whole") and the relations maintained with its alumni. According to Masfurroll, Catalonia's public univeersities "are an exceptional case of success despite the tight budgets received in the past few years". He also referred to the UAB's 50th anniversary to "congratulate the UAB for fifty years of excellence and disruption".
President of the Generalitat Quim Torra ended the ceremony with a speech on his personal memories as a UAB student, in which he confirmed that "the university was a place of freedom". For the president, universities have "great responsibility" in providing both freedom and a place for the development of talent and culture, three elements which he is certain will guarantee that Catalonia has "a bright future". President Torra spoke on the origins of the Catalan university system and highlighted the "spectacular advances" of the last few years. He congratulated the winners of the Jaume Vicens Vives Awards and in homage to the UAB's fifty years of existence, he ended his speech by wishing a "happy anniversary to the UAB".
That is why, from both a moral and pragmatic point of view, Camps defended the act of migrating as something that "forms part of who we are" and cannot "be opened and closed as a tap". He also reminded attendants that in the face of a "global process" of population ageing, societies such as ours must think more about "not preventing their arrival, but encouraging them to do so". He was also very critical about the "post-truth" which disinforms about the phenomenon of migration and specifically that which "criminalises" migrant people. The UAB focused on this issue not only in the inaugural ceremony, but will also be dedicating a series of activities on the subject throughout this academic year.
Fifty Years of Medicine
The famous Barcelona art nouveau site was chosen as the location of the event because the facilities at the Hospital of Santa Creu i Sant Pau were the first to house the Faculty of Medicine, in 1968, the same year as the founding of the UAB (pel mateix motiu, el curs passat va ser inaugurat al Monestir de Sant Cugat del Vallès, on va arrencar aleshores l'activitat de la Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres). Due to the weather, the ceremony was transferred from the central gardens of the hospital to two inner halls.
Miquel Vilardell, emeritus professor of internal medicine at the UAB, spoke on the origins of the centre, reminiscing on how Sant Pau had already been a university hospital during the Second Republic of Spain, and affiliated with the first autonous university of Barcelona (founded in 1933 and dissolved under Franco's dictatorship). From this institution, Vilardell explained that the UAB, in its origins, included the "fundamentals of university autonomy, Catalanism and internal democracy", as well as a commitment to "hospital decentralisation". He also spoke on some of the figures behind the Faculty of Medicine and affirmed that "the success in teaching and research" of the centre was achieved "thanks to all of those who have strived to maintain it in these past fifty years".
Award for the Archaeology and Palaeontology Campus
The event also included musical performances by Orpheus XXI and the UAB Choir, and concluded with the contemporary dance company Sol Picó offering an urban street dance performance entitled Halab. The Jaume Vicens Vives 2018 Awards were also presented, in which the research, teaching and dissemination tasks of the UAB Archaeology and Palaeontology Campus was recognised. The award was collected by Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Joan Carbonell. The award was also given to the UPF's Hacklab project, the Submarine Robotics Workshop of the UdG Technical School, the URV Social Gardens Project, and individually to Pere Pascual (UPC), Diana Ferrer (URL) and Teresa Sancho (UOC).
In the institutional speeches, Rector of the UAB Margarita Arboix characterised the present moment as a "passionate time in the history of universities" thanks to the challenges posed by social and technological transformations. "We cannot let down a society which is counting on us", she stated, adding that there was a need to propose "new academic programmes and new methodologies", as well as strengthen "the balance" between "professional objectives and objectives based on acquiring values".
"Urgent Reforms"
According to Rector Arboix, there is an "urgent need for reforms" in the university system to make it more independent and financially stable, as well as to solve issues such as ageing faculty members, tuition fees and the quality of research. She lamented the fact that the university "has not formed part of the priorities of our leaders" in these past years and assured the attendants that higher education institutions "have survived the crisis, but are currently in an extreme situation, which if not mended, will cause us to disappear from the international arena".
President of the UAB Social Council Gabriel Masfurroll voiced his agreement with the need to provide universities with more resources, and stated that funding is one of the four top challenges faced by Catalonia's universities, in addition to relations with businesses, the social perception ("the university is not only of interest to students and lecturers, but to society as a whole") and the relations maintained with its alumni. According to Masfurroll, Catalonia's public univeersities "are an exceptional case of success despite the tight budgets received in the past few years". He also referred to the UAB's 50th anniversary to "congratulate the UAB for fifty years of excellence and disruption".
President of the Generalitat Quim Torra ended the ceremony with a speech on his personal memories as a UAB student, in which he confirmed that "the university was a place of freedom". For the president, universities have "great responsibility" in providing both freedom and a place for the development of talent and culture, three elements which he is certain will guarantee that Catalonia has "a bright future". President Torra spoke on the origins of the Catalan university system and highlighted the "spectacular advances" of the last few years. He congratulated the winners of the Jaume Vicens Vives Awards and in homage to the UAB's fifty years of existence, he ended his speech by wishing a "happy anniversary to the UAB".
More information: Photo album
Vídeos of the ceremony:
- Inauguration of the 2018-2019 academic year
- Inaugural lesson by Òscar Camps
- Jaume Vicens Vives 2018 awards
- Speech by the Social Council - Transcription of the speech (PDF)
- Speech by the Rector during the opening ceremony
- Speech by the President Torra during the opening ceremony