UNAM: who is credited with the motto of the highest house of studies

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the most important educational institutions in the country, and also one of the most recognized. And it is that on several occasions, UNAM has been praised for its educational level, the preparation with which its students graduate and the research carried out by its staff.

In addition, great figures from science, education, politics and art, have studied in this institution. That is why it is considered among the top 100 universities in the world, the second best in Latin America, and the most prestigious in the country.

The history of UNAM, as we now know it, dates back to the time of the Profiriato, although it is said that it is the successor of the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, which was active from the 16th century to the 19th century. In fact, the one who ordered the latter to close was the second and last emperor in Mexico, Maximilian of Habsburg.

Later, in 1910, President Porfirio Díaz decreed the formation of the National University of Mexico, however, autonomy was achieved until 1929.

Last Tuesday, during his morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), stated that he did not agree with the UNAM motto, which is “For my race will the spirit speak”. This is because, he said, that he does not believe in races, but in cultures.

“I don't even believe in races, I believe in cultures, I admire Master Vasconcelos, but I don't agree with him on that, with the motto of UNAM. But, well, everyone can think with absolute freedom and that is what we are experiencing now,” declared the president, who studied Political Science and Public Administration at that educational institution.

The motto of UNAM was created by José Vasconcelos, and according to the UNAM website, “reveals the humanistic vocation with which it was conceived”. Vasconcelos assumed the rectory of the University in 1920, at a time when the hopes of the Revolution were still alive, there was great faith in the homeland and the redemptive spirit spread in the environment.

Vasconcelos, who was known as the “Master of America”, explained that “in this slogan it means the conviction that our race will develop a culture of new tendencies, of spiritual and liberrime essence”, when presenting the proposal. “This is how I imagined the university coat of arms that I presented to the Council, roughly and with a legend: For my race the spirit will speak, pretending to mean that we were waking up from a long night of oppression,” he said.

Last Tuesday, UNAM complied with the delivery of the report of its public account to the Chamber of Deputies, and at the protocol meeting, legislators recognized the Maximum House of Studies as “a fundamental institution for the development of the country”.

In the meeting with the House Surveillance Commission, the rector of UNAM, Enrique Graue Wiechers, said that “in these two years of pandemic, students were affected in the way they learn and teachers in the way they teach.”

He also highlighted that on March 29, the University Council unanimously approved the public account, and detailed that most of the budget for UNAM is exercised in teaching. “More than two thirds of the expenditure goes towards this, to meet the needs of 367,000 students,” Graue said.

He explained that thanks to the efforts of the administrative secretariat and the board of trustees, it was possible to cover connectivity grants, as well as buy tablets and computers to facilitate the school transit of students, which was finally achieved.

Later, in an interview, the rector pointed out that the funds allocated to the University are always received in a timely manner, however, they are always insufficient. “It is always insufficient for educational purposes, not only for us, but for all institutions of higher education, but with the budget we have we have been able to satisfactorily fulfill the task given to us by the nation.”

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