🎓 The University inaugurates the new 2024-25 academic year

Today we celebrated the opening ceremony of the 2024-25 academic year, an institutional gathering that marked the start of the new academic year.

The ceremony, held in the Aula Magna, was presided over by the Rector of the University, Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga, the Secretary of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia, Laura Román, the Professor of General Psychology at our university, Martín Echavarría, and the General Secretary, María Jesús Pesqueira.

The event, led by our rector, included the keynote speech ‘Health, Normality and Maturity from an Anthropological Perspective’, presented by Martín Echevarría. Beginning with an approach to the anthropological foundation of psychology, the lecture continued with an intimate exposition of the terms normality, health and maturity, concepts the speaker relates to the transmission of knowledge and an infinite good that involves the dissemination of truth as a method to achieve fulfilment and, consequently, maturity.

“Although at a certain level normality may be related to adaptation, complete normality is related to fulfilment, especially when this concept tends to approach that of maturity”, Echevarría explained, emphasizing that “a mature personality is characterized by communicating life, a life that lies in the fulfilment of inner life”. Regarding health, the professor highlighted the importance of considering psychological and social conditions in order to comprehensively understand it, relating the concepts of health and happiness.

Our University, a constantly growing institution

The event also included a speech by the General Secretary and Dean of the Faculty of Law and Business, María Jesús Pesqueira, who led the presentation of the latest report of the 2023-24 academic year, a period marked by two milestones: the celebration of the University’s 50th anniversary and the consolidation of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.

In her presentation, she highlighted the University’s progress during the last academic year, emphasizing the improvement in the academic offer and the significant 40% increase in the number of newly enrolled students compared to previous years.

Laura Román, Secretary of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia, then took part in the event, highlighting the importance of the University in the Catalan university system. Proof of this is “the request for the inclusion of degrees in Nursing, Medicine, Physiotherapy and Communication and Digital Content Creation for the 2025-26 academic year, university studies that have been added to the current offer”, she emphasized. Finally, Román stressed our University’s efforts to improve its teaching quality and to continue promoting its own research, describing the University as a solid institution of excellence.

The University Rector, Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga, concluded the inauguration of the academic year, underlining the University’s ongoing work in offering new university degrees in new spaces in the future.

Specifically, he highlighted the recent launch of two degrees: the Degree in Business Intelligence and the Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, as well as the incorporation of the Escola Vitae as the first university centre affiliated to the University. The Mater Salvatoris college was also another of the new additions highlighted.

“After 50 years, the Abat Oliba CEU University provides a service to Catalan society based on academic quality, moral commitment and roots in the territory”, concluded our Rector.

The event, which began and concluded with a performance by the university choir, marked the start of a new academic year full of challenges and opportunities for the university community.