Rector Sánchez highlighted the UC contribution to the constitutional process and criticized the exclusion of public institutions
June 24, 2022
With great joy to celebrate again in person, the house of studies commemorated its 134th anniversary. In his speech, Rector Sánchez highlighted the contribution of the house of studies to the New Constitution proposal, but at the same time criticized that it was leave out non-state public institutions. In addition, he presented the new Institute of Applied Ethics and the institution's digital transformation project.
After two years celebrating its anniversary electronically, this year the university finally celebrated in person. The customary ceremony was returned to in a crowded Juan Francisco Fresno Hall, Extension Center, located in Alameda, next to the Headquarters.
The celebration of the 134 years was held, as is tradition, on Sacred Heart Day, patron of the house of studies. In preparation for this day, the Directorate of Pastoral and Christian Culture from the UC gave talks explaining what the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is all about, in addition he developed a novena that was prayed for nine days and a day of adoration in the temple of the San Joaquín Campus.
After the mass, which was celebrated by the Grand Chancellor, Cardinal Celestino Aós, Archbishop of Santiago, and other priests, the academic ceremony began, in which el Chancellor Ignacio Sanchez delivered the annual public account. He began it by dedicating a tribute to the nearly sixty thousand people who have died in this serious pandemic in Chile, and to the hundreds of thousands who have had the disease. She also thanked each member of the university community for their dedication to work during this difficult time.
New Constitution: "The proposals so far have had a tone of revenge"
With respect to national news, the rector pointed out that the university has dedicated great efforts to contribute to the work of the Constituent Convention in the drafting of a new Fundamental Charter. “It would not be possible to summarize in this account each one of the nearly twenty working documents that have been carried out by the UC Constituent Forum and the UC Public Policy Center, which have been delivered to all those who have the responsibility of leading this process. Likewise, academic seminars, debates in the Honorable Superior Council and in the UC Forum have been carried out, which reflects the pluralism and diversity of opinions of the members of the university community”.
Considering the above, he emphasized that from the UC it is appropriate to emphasize the founding principles of the house of studies and in that sense, criticized the lack of spirit of reunion that has existed in the process: "A new constitution must define a system of government, the bases of community life and the rights and duties of the people. It must be a Fundamental Charter that unites us (...) The proposals so far have had a tone of revenge, of new winners and losers, which is of particular concern," he emphasized.
The issues that concern the UC the most are: respect for life and the dignity of the person; public education and freedom of education; respect for religious freedom; respect for native peoples; sustainability and integral ecology; respect for democracy and social rights, among others.
“In several of the aspects mentioned, the draft proposal gives extremely worrying signals. I refer to the installation of free abortion, without restrictions and without considering conscientious objection. Thus, it also highlighted the insufficient protection and care of the freedom of education, of the freedom of parents to choose the education of their children, and in particular the role of the State in its duty to support that choice with financing. In higher education, the constitutional proposal ignores the history of Chile, by not mentioning the support and promotion of traditional universities that have been a fundamental part of the country's development”, he stated.
"I am not only concerned about the future of our university -a Chilean heritage and key in its development-, but also the regional institutions, the citizen initiatives, which without belonging to the State have been key in understanding Chile and its inhabitants," he said. .
Digital transformation for the community
In his speech, the rector announced that last year the Digital Transformation Department, in order to take charge of the consolidation of an institutional data model as the first stage of the digital transformation. For its part, the Data Governance Department developed an institutional data model, as a great enabler of the digital transformation process that we hope to install in the institution. “This transformation requires a cultural change in the community,” he emphasized.
In addition, he informed that it was created the Institute of Applied Ethics UC. “The contingency that we are experiencing as a country, both due to the political and social crisis that has manifested itself since October 2019, and the Coronavirus pandemic, has clearly revealed that the origin of many of our problems has deep ethical roots. It is of special relevance and necessary that universities -especially those with a Catholic identity- focus on working on their own ethical culture”, he highlighted.
He explained that this institute is an interdisciplinary space that includes the entire UC and that it seeks to contribute to reflection and practical ethical work inside and outside the university, with a focus on thinking and doing.
At the end, the rector expressed: “There are many aspects that we have analyzed; however, perhaps they can be summed up in a few brief words, such as: identity and mission of a Catholic university, sense of responsibility and passion for the university task that commits us, commitment to students, desire to seek truth and new knowledge, willingness to serve our country through renewed initiatives that make explicit our public commitment to the society to which we owe ourselves”.
award-winning academics
During the ceremony, the Monsignor Carlos Casanueva Award, a recognition that has been granted since 2002 by the Senior Management and that distinguishes a professor with a career at UC who has stood out for leaving a mark on the university community. It is the highest recognition that an academic can obtain during his career at the institution and this year it was received by Professor Aldo Cipriano from the School of Engineering.
For his part, the academic from the Faculty of Social Sciences UC, Eduardo Valenzuela, received the Abdón Cifuentes Award, which recognizes teachers who have achieved a positive impact on society, becoming a contribution to the country and to the development of public policies. Furthermore, the Honorable Superior Council awarded the honorary academic degree of professor emeritus to the academics Silvia Pellegrini, Arturo Yrarrázaval and Joaquín Fermandois.
And, like every year, this celebration also recognized those academics who reached the category of Holder. This year they were 29 teachers who received this recognition:
Medicine School
- Renato Mertens
- Mauricio Camus
- Jose Antonio Castro
- Manuel Álvarez
- Lorraine Mosso
- John Christopher Wins
- Álvaro González
- Sergio Uribe
- Ricardo Fadic
- Fernando Altermatt
- paola casanello
Villarrica Campus
- viviana gomez
Art school
- Danilo Espinoza
Institute of Political Science
- Rodrigo Mardones
Institute of Geography
- Cristian Henriquez
- Jonathan Richard Barton
Music Institute
- Mauricio Cortes
Ingeniery school
- Mauricio Lopez
- Christian Tejos
- Gloria Arancibia
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
- Claudio Paulos
Institute of Astrophysics
- Franz Bauer
Institute of Political Science
- Gabriel Negreto
Letters faculty
- Maria Teresa Oteiza
Institute of Economics
- jeanne lafortune
- Thomas Rau
Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering
- Rene Botnar
School of Psychology
- Maria Pia Santelices
School of Architecture
- Hugo Mondragon
Relive the transmission of the ceremony
Source: UC vision
