A
new student group called AcrossUIC, which is made up of students from several
different faculties, was launched in December 2011 at the UIC. The group's
president, Montserrat Figuerola, is a
Humanities student and vice president Enric Figuerola studies Business Administration.
Education student Sílvia Canals is the group's
secretary and its spokesperson is Pedro Postigo, who also studies Business
Administration. The president of the group stated that the objective of
AcrossUIC is to organize lectures and debates in all of the professional fields
that correspond to the values ??of the UIC.

The
first lecture organized by the group was titled “Good Work Has No Boundaries”
and was given by advertising agent Ramon Piqué, one
of the directors behind the Estrella Damm advert featuring Barça. Piqué used several verses of Joan Maragall's poem “Elogi del Viure” (In Praise of the
Living) to give advice to students on their professional future and encouraged
them to be idealistic and to learn both inside and outside of the classroom.

He
said, “A short pencil is better than a long memory, because if you have talent
but you don't work and apply yourself, you're not going anywhere”. Piqué then concluded his talk by encouraging
the students “not to be afraid of mistakes or failures, since they're both
wonderful friends who will teach you many great lessons”.

The
group also organized a lecture that took place on Thursday, 8 March 2012, and was delivered by
Father Joan Costa, who spoke about relationships during
a crisis of values. Father Costa said,
“Couples who live together are testing their love to find out whether or not it
works and whether or not they are right for each other. Marriage, on the other
hand, is for life”.

The
next lecture will take place on Thursday,
29 March 2012, and will be given by Felio Vilarrubias, who will talk about the Talita
Foundation and his experience with children with Down's syndrome.