During the event, the president of CRUE Spanish Universities and rector of Cordoba University, José Carlos Gómez, highlighted that “the only path that a country can follow, if it wants to offer citizens true peace of mind, is making a commitment to intellectual capital”. In this sense, he called for “more than just expressions and statements of good intentions” and said that “education should not be seen as an expense”, while accepting that “it is the most powerful investment in the future you can make”. José Carlos Gómez Villamandos asked political, economic and social stakeholders to keep trusting the university institution, as “the future of society lies in the present of its universities”.
On the other hand, the president of Universia and Santander Bank, Ana Botín, stated that “we have reached the moment to make decisions and move forward effectively”. For Spanish universities, Ana Botín called for “a more open framework that allows us to manage things in a more flexible way, with a greater capacity to make the vocation of universities a reality”. “Greater autonomy, with better accountability to be able to take on bigger responsibilities and bigger commitments”, remarked the president of Universia and Santander Bank.
On the other hand, the meeting was also an opportunity to talk about cybersecurity. In this sense, the president of Universia stated that “it is one of the main challenges faced by our institutions today”. For this reason, it was announced at the event that the next Universia España General Shareholders’ Meeting would be held in Leon, in coordination with the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE). The meeting will be open to rectors from Portuguese universities, in order to discuss and share joint ideas and proposals in this area.
The General Shareholders’ Meeting concluded with a meeting that featured the participation of several students receiving the Santander Erasmus Scholarship. The programme, which was launched by Santander Bank, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and Crue Spanish Universities, offered over 5,000 grants worth a total of two million euros. The objective is to reward academic excellence on the Spanish Erasmus programme and encourage inclusion and equal opportunities.
