The President of the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER), Dr. Santos Gracia Villar, participates in the solemn opening ceremony of the new academic year of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic) (UNEATLANTICO).
UNEATLANTICO has held the official opening ceremony for the academic year 2023-2024. An event that coincides with the presentation of diplomas to the students who graduated last year with the best records.
The ceremony took place in the auditorium and, as is traditional, the Coro Lírico de Cantabria (Lyrical Choir of Cantabria) performed the pieces “Ave Verum” by Mozart and “Veni Creator Spiritus”, by C. Franck.
The opening ceremony was attended by various authorities, including the President of Cantabria, María José Sáenz de Buruaga; the Government Delegate in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones; and the Minister of Education, Vocational Training, and Universities, Sergio Silva. Also attending the event were representatives of companies, associations, and professional associations in the region, and spokespersons for the Parliament of Cantabria and the City Council of Santander.
The Secretary General of the University, Roberto Ruiz, proceeded to the reading of the report of the academic year 2022-2023, highlighting the most relevant milestones such as the renewal of the accreditation of 100% of all university degrees by ANECA, the approval by the Council of Ministers of the first doctoral program of the university, the Interuniversity Doctorate in Engineering and Project Management, which has added the recent notification of the accreditation of a second doctorate, this time in Physical Activity and Sport: Risks and Benefits. In this way, the secretary recalled that “the university already fully complies with all the requirements that the new university legislation has established to improve the quality of the Spanish university system.”
For his part, FUNIBER’s Director of Institutional Relations and the FUNIBER Chair of Iberoamerican Studies and Iberophony, Dr. Álvaro Durántez Prados, a member of the University’s faculty, proceeded to the laudatio of Dr. Conrado Durántez Corral, who was awarded the University’s honorary medal as the highest institutional distinction.
“He is awarded this distinction in general for his brilliant academic, scientific, and pedagogical career in the field of Olympism, as well as in his extraordinary work in the Olympic Academy and in the promotion of Pan-Iberianism by promoting the articulation of the Asociación Panibérica Academias Olímpicas Nacionales (Pan-Iberian Association of National Olympic Academies) (APAO), composed of entities from all the Iberian-speaking sister nations of the different continents,” emphasized FUNIBER’s director of institutional relations, who highlighted in particular his contribution to the creation of the Centro de Estudios Olímpicos (Olympic Studies Center) of UNEATLANTICO.
After the presentation of the medal by the rector of UNEATLANTICO, Dr. Conrado Durántez Corral thanked the institution for the award and highlighted the work of FUNIBER and UNEATLANTICO. Subsequently, he gave an inaugural lecture entitled “Olympism in the 21st Century.”
Then, the president of FUNIBER, Dr. Santos Gracia Villar, spoke and expressed “his pride for a university that is already becoming a model and reference for other universities in other continents.” “In FUNIBER, we believe that the internationalization of higher education is key for academic and technical growth, and sometimes even for the sustainability of the university system itself,” he said.
For her part, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, the president of Cantabria, congratulated the work of the students with the best records and highlighted the strength of the university: “UNEATLANTICO is a growing and fully rooted reality.” Buruaga also remarked that the growth of university students and foreign students in Cantabria in recent years is at the head of Spain, and it is largely thanks to the work philosophy of this university.
In his statement, the rector of UNEATLANTICO, Rubén Calderón, thanked all the attendees for their presence and made a brief review of the history of UNEATLANTICO, which currently has fifteen official degrees. In his speech, he highlighted the social function of the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER) and concluded by congratulating the work of the teaching and research staff, as well as the administration and services that make up UNEATLANTICO.
The ceremony ended with the performance of the pieces “Gaudeamus Igitur” and “Tollite Hostias” by the Coro Lírico de Cantabria.
