Breathe
By Nurit Martínez
A week ago, the succession of the Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) began and the dispute is concentrated between the university elite and groups of the university left that are now linked to the Fourth Transformation.
It has been months in which the main university groups: doctors, scientists, to a lesser extent lawyers, engineers and the bureaucratic elite, have been the protagonists of meetings to lobby and make this process a transition that does not destabilize the largest university in Latin America, with almost 380,000 students and a total community of more than 400,000 people.
The group of university students took the strategy of promoting various candidacies under the protection and support of the former rectors who are now appreciated by the Puma community: former rectors José Narro, Juan Ramón de la Fuente and José Sarukhán.
The first two doctors, former officials of the former PRI governments: José Narro and Juan Ramón de la Fuente, confronted at some point would have managed to reach an agreement to present a range of candidates from the Rector's staff, but with the clarity of supporting only one that would guarantee the continuity of the actions undertaken for almost a quarter of a century in the institution.
They would have been joined by the current rector and third consecutive physician in the Rector's Office: Enrique Graue Wiechers, who without the agreement between the other two former rectors would not have been able to reach the Board of Governors with sufficient support to amplify the power of the physicians for almost 24 years.
Since his return to Mexico, after leaving his post as ambassador to the United Nations, Juan Ramón de la Fuente has led several meetings in which his role has not only been to call for waiting for the formal times of the Board of Governors, but also to calm the spirits of those who wanted to promote reforms to modify the rules of appointment to the Board of Governors.
He has been a factor of cohesionamong managers that he himself formed during the eight years of his administration and today are part of the university elite or the executive staff of the Rector's Office.
After the death of the former rector Guillermo Soberón, who had established himself as the great hierarch guiding the destiny of the institution, the two former medical rectors took action to occupy the position where the universities find the guiding counsel in the face of external attacks on the institution.
However, before fighting this battle, both (De la Fuente and Narro) have had to find negotiation spaces to prevent the passage of other groups such as the scientists, who after having supported former rector Francisco Barnés have not been able to conquer new spaces within the UNAM, despite the fact that former rector José Sarukhán continues to enjoy the appreciation and sympathy not only of the scientists but also of other university groups.
Narro and De la Fuente, in the midst of their own confrontation to define the course of the UNAM, have resented the distance of Puma groups that did not like the fact that both were part of the last two federal governments. The former with the PRI's Enrique Peña Nieto and today being a protagonist of the opposition project of the Frente Amplio por México, the latter by joining the administration of President López Obrador.
The bet of the university class
Among these forces, the candidacy of Leonardo Lomelí, current secretary general and who would be his second participation in a process for the Rector's office, has emerged.
He competed four years ago against Graue himself and this only strengthened his presence in the second most important position in the institution.
He is known in the community as the Dolphin of the group of doctors, whom a sector of the university left would support, given that he does not agree with the statements made so far by the President of the Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the sense that the UNAM is right-wing or that only the "golden bureaucracy" lives there, or that they do not agree with the policies promoted in science and health in this federal administration.
The list is completed by two women, in the midst of a debate about the arrival of more women to positions of power and who are part of the rector's staff. On the one hand, Patricia Dolores Dávila, who is in charge of the Secretariat of Institutional Development, former director of the Faculty of Higher Education (FES) Iztacala, and who was a former benchmate of Claudia Sheinbaum, former head of the Mexico City Government.
There is also Guadalupe Valencia García, coordinator of Humanities, close to the former Secretary of Education, Science and Innovation, Rosaura Ruiz, who today heads a group that supports the pre-candidacy of the former head of government.
This group is complemented by Luis Álvarez Icaza Longoria, current administrative secretary and brother of PAN senator Emilio Álvarez Icaza. In this group, the university students emphasize a management approach without major connections to research and cultural dissemination.
He is joined by the current director of the School of Medicine, Germán Fajardo, who in the midst of the Covid pandemic confronted the Cuatroté government when it was decided to remove undergraduate students from the front line of care for the most seriously ill patients.
He later sided with the medical profession when President López Obrador accused them of mercantilist behavior in the midst of the pandemic and of hiring Cuban doctors with better salaries than resident doctors.
In this list of those who have already declared their intention to compete for the Rector's office is also the coordinator of Scientific Research, William Lee Alardín, the only representative of the group of scientists and who has been questioned for not having taken a tougher stance against the decisions of the former National Council of Science and Technology.
In this scenario, they question the fact that he has not led a front against the cancellation of the science trusts, the unproven claims and lawsuits for misappropriation of resources against prominent academics and the cancellation of grants for the training of scientists in projects that were not marked by Cuatroté as a priority, among others.
The groups that seek power and today would be in an alliance to confront the university left wing related to Cuatroté are complemented by professional groups such as lawyers, engineers, architects and social scientists such as political scientists whose power has diminished due to the long stay of the doctors, however, they have been able to position themselves within the central administration or from their schools and faculties they have had an important voice in polemic moments.
Such is the case of what happened in the shameful case of plagiarism of the thesis of Minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa. There, the director of the School of Law, Raúl Contreras, was placed in the spotlight for the determination that is still pending in that case. But as far as his administration is concerned, he has been able to place this institution at the center of different issues such as violence against women.
The political force formed at CEU
In front of all of them is the group of former CEU student leaders who have regrouped and mobilized to recall the pending agenda they promoted at the end of the 1980s, when they opposed with a strike and massive marches in Mexico City to stop a reform promoted by then rector Jorge Carpizo, which proposed to increase fees and eliminate the automatic transfer from high schools to bachelor's degrees.
Those university leaders who promoted mobilizations, blockades and the strike between 1986-1987 and who later joined the 1988 political group that created the PRD and are now on the side of Claudia Sheinbaum's pre-candidacy in Morena is the one seeking to place or make alliances with those university groups.
One of these groups is headed by Rosaura Ruiz, who is prevented by age to participate again in the succession process in the Rector's Office, but who upon her return to UNAM is seen as the channel through which her outstanding student Claudia Sheinbaum can trace the support so that the former students can continue in the conquest of political spaces.
Some of them would be seeking agreements to strengthen the candidacy of the Secretary General, Leonardo Lomelí, others with the two women candidates to make possible the appointment of the first female rector of the UNAM and to achieve a less confrontational dialogue with whoever could become President of the Republic in 2024, given that in the scenario it is expected that two women will compete for that position.
Meanwhile, another bloc of the university left grouped around the current general director of Institutional Evaluation and also a former student, Imanol Ordorika, who until a few years ago had family ties with Sheinbaum Pardo.
Institutional impact
Through him, strong criticisms have been launched regarding the pending reforms at UNAM to "democratize" the election of the rector, a process conducted by the Board of Governors.
The dispute to control the UNAM is not only for the more than 52,728 million pesos in the annual budget that grows year after year, nor for a community of a little more than 400,000 people who are directly linked to the institution.
It is related to history, critical mass and contributions to knowledge and proposals to solve national problems, because it concentrates the largest proportion of scientific and human infrastructure, as well as the most important cultural safeguard of Mexico.
This work related to diverse aspects of national life accumulates multiple recognitions such as the one that has made Mexico appear in the list of Nobel Prize winners in the world: Octavio Paz, Arturo García Robles, Mario Molina and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in addition to hundreds of other worldwide recognitions in recent years to the UNAM, such as being the best institution in the continent.
Since UNAM obtained its autonomy in 1929, the Board of Governors, made up of 15 prominent university members appointed by the University Council, has been in charge of electing the rector every four years, in addition to appointing other university authorities such as directors of schools, centers or faculties.
A week ago the call was opened to receive the names of those who have personal interest or those who, in the opinion of the university groups, meet the requirements and have the profile to occupy the Rectory for the 2023-2027 term.
The Board will receive until November 3 opinions only from those who maintain a relationship with the University. This opens the possibility for alumni to give their opinion if they specify that, for example, a member of the cabinet, businessmen, legislators and even President López Obrador will do so as an alumnus of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences.
The universities have called since 1929 for these sectors not to speak out in respect for autonomy. Rector Graue reminded this once again last week when he called on the university to prevent outside interference.
The Board established in the call that the pronouncements cannot be anonymous, those in favor or against must be in person, by appointment or made by means of a letter with full identification.
The members of the Board are Juan Alberto Adam Siade, Ana Rosa Barahona Echeverría, Enrique Cabrero Mendoza, Gerardo Jorge Cadena Roa, Elena Centeno García, Patricia Elena Clark Peralta, Luis Armando Díaz-Infante Chapa, Marcia Hiriart Urdanivia, Rocío Jáuregui Renaud, Rafael Lira Saade, Margarita Beatriz Luna Ramos, Alberto Ken Oyama Nakagawa, Vicente Quirarte Castañeda, María de la Luz Jimena de Teresa de Oteyza and the current president is Gina Zabludovsky Kuper, who will lead the process until the person who will hold office for the 2023-2027 term is sworn in.
From now until November 3, the Board will form commissions to hear the community's opinion in person.
Applicants must register with a resume detailing their background and submit a work project no later than September 4.
On October 12, the group will announce the names of those who qualify as formal applicants and invite them to an interview beginning October 23.
At the conclusion of the meeting, they will begin deliberations to appoint the person who will lead the institution until 2027.
In the midst of the definition of the political forces to determine the candidates for the presidency of the Republic, the dispute for power in the UNAM can be used as an ideal scenario to settle key moments of the national race, which would not be new, but it is not convenient for anyone.
If the university alliance continues to weave in defense of the institution, shows its strength and unity, the university will get through this moment with some stability, the challenge remains what project will offer the community to address outstanding issues not only in the designation of authorities and greater participation in the whole process.
In between there is a broad agenda to be resolved in terms of funding to address free and compulsory higher education, the change to science policies and scholarships in postgraduate education, violence against women, insecurity and drug dealing, among others. Beyond safeguarding autonomy and territory, the decision of the 15 notables will be in the details of the project.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
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