The graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Communication Sciences took place on Friday 8 June. During the ceremony, the 36 students were accompanied by their teachers and family members, as well as the class patron, the great-grandson of Spain’s first recognised publicist (1846-1918) on the centennial anniversary of his death. 

In his lecture. José Manuel Casasnovas Roldós, the managing director of Roldós Media –the world’s oldest advertising agency–, reminded attendees that his great-grandfather was also the founder and director of the first advertising agency in Spain, which still exists. “Roldós is the world’s oldest active advertising agency, and that’s not according to me, but to historians on the matter”, emphasised the businessman. 

In his talk, Casasnovas Roldós took a look back at the forward-looking career of a communication visionary. “At the age of 26, he founded the company Roldós y Compañía, the aim of which was to make money selling space in various media outlets. Something that is now common and important in our society, which we even have university degrees for, but was just emerging in the mid-19th century. He did the job of what would today be called a media agency: he’d put the advertisers in contact with the media outlets and charged a commission. That’s how his career began”, recalled his grandson.

He also explained that his great-grandfather Roldós was also a visionary when it came to expanding the business. “His creativity and enterprising spirit led him to, for example, ask the City Council to install public urinals for the 1888 Universal Exhibition, on which he of course put advertising”.

Casasnovas Roldós also offered the new graduates a few inspirational messages about their future. “Earning your customers’ trust will be fundamental. Though you will also need to earn that of your bosses, colleagues and, in a few years, the people you are in charge of”, he suggested. The entrepreneur also encouraged them to find a guiding principle in life, without losing sight of their values. 

Following the lecture, the 36 graduates also listened to the words of the dean, Alfonso Méndiz, and speeches by students Lucía Esquerdo (Audiovisual Communication), Jaume Cumellas (Journalism) and Sara Barrachina (Advertising). The ceremony ended with the singing of the university hymn: Gaudeamus Igitur.