Breathe
By Nurit Martínez
Who won at UNAM? is the recurring question after the appointment of Leonardo Lomelí as Rector of that university. The group of doctors won, but who specifically? Everything seems to indicate that the group of former rector Juan Ramón de la Fuente in close proximity to Claudia Sheinbaum made possible the arrival of the first economist to the university so that everything remains the same, with slight changes, but so that the establishment remains for another eight years.
Lomelí Vanegas was presented as a man of the university left because of his brief career in the CEU student movement of 1985-1986, and the rest of the community valued his youth, that he is a dedicated, disciplined and studious university student, with high academic recognition, capable of leading the model established almost a quarter of a century ago.
That is why in the first hours the Puma university students expressed tranquility for the appointment of the Board of Governors, the community preferred continuity to risk a change for only four years, in the case that Patricia Dávila, Secretary of Institutional Development, would be appointed Rector.
Because of her age, she could only guarantee four years of governance, was one of the assessments in the unprecedented deliberation of the Governing Board.
For four consecutive days, the 15 members of the Board of Governors met in the Rector's Tower to evaluate the profiles of the ten finalist candidates, but so far it is known that the analysis focused on the choice between appointing the first woman as head of the university or giving continuity to the institutional project established by Dr. De la Fuente after the UNAM strike.
On Thursday, November 9, 2023, while media representatives were gathered in the main auditorium of the Rector's Office waiting for the message from the President of the Board of Governors, Giba Zabludovsky, cell phones began to ring: "my boss is not".
--Confirmed?
--Yes, it's not, I exchanged that afternoon.
--It did not reach the qualified vote, he said.
Another message read: "no, it's not us".
The seconds were eternal, speculation increased. From the Board a message came out: "let's go to the message", there was no more.
That was the moment when the 15 members of the Board appeared and the President announced that Leonardo Lomelí had the attributes.
This generated new messages: The Board did not dare to be progressive, even though the times in the country look that way?
Thus the community received the ratification of a man trained in the social sciences but with a political background among physicians.
Hours later, academics and researchers pointed out that the Governing Board avoided choosing a woman because they saw in researcher Patricia Dávila signs of a woman who is driven, reactive and not very prudent when making decisions. Misogynistic comments were not lacking, but they undoubtedly reached the ears of the members of the Board, which for the first time had a majority of women.
This was also the perception of several members of the media with whom she chatted the day before, when she went out for her usual walk through the central campus of Ciudad Universitaria and she answered them: "if I took into account the rumors I would not sleep, I would not eat and I would not be .... it's all right with me" she said with a certain disdain when she was asked about her opinion of those who said that within the Board the decision was being prolonged because a majority agreement was not reached between two aspirants: her and Leonardo Lomelí.
Who won the succession at UNAM? The integration of Leonardo Lomelí's work team will reveal the power game of the group of doctors and the university left that made a pact to keep everything the same.
What can be observed is that in order to avoid gender issues, it is expected that the three women (Laura Acosta, Guadalupe Valencia and Patricia Dávila) finalists will maintain a first line position in Lomelí's team, also in recognition of the ideas contributed in their work proposals.
In the meantime, Dávila has already become the first secretary general of UNAM, taking over the interim position left by Lomelí to prepare for the replacement of Enrique Graue.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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