UC Chile's President presented the Annual Report for 2021

In his speech, President Ignacio Sánchez highlighted the contribution to the discussion of the Chilean Constitutional Convention and advances in areas like internationalization and digital transformation inside the University.

a man standing on stage in front of a large crowd — After two years of celebrating UC Chile's anniversary in virtual form, we celebrated in person at the Juan Francisco Fresno Hall this year.

Commemorating the 134 anniversary of the UC Chile foundation, President Ignacio Sanchez delivered the annual report of the main activities of the University during 2021.

On June 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the patron saint of our University, and the same day we commemorated the anniversary of the institution, founded in 1888.

In his speech, President Sánchez stated that "these have been difficult times for the world, for our country and for the UC community, with an evolving pandemic".

He also paid tribute to the 60,000 people who died from COVID-19 and the thousands who have had the disease.

President Sanchez bringing 33 roses — Before the annual report, UC Chile's president paid tribute to Monsignor Carlos Casanueva, the first President of UC Chile. President Sánchez brought 33 roses to his tomb as a symbol of his 33 years as president of the University.

UC Chile Contributions to the Constitutional Discussion

It also has been challenging times, the president said, for UC Chile to be able to "continue contributing to the country in all areas that it needed for the welfare of the Chilean population".

One of these areas is the Constitutional Convention, which is writing a new Chilean constitution.

The new constitutional draft was presented in May and will be put to a referendum vote next September.

President Sánchez detailed the efforts of the University to contribute to the work of the assembly, such as nearly twenty documents that UC Chile's Constitutional Forum and Public Policy Center have done, which they delivered to the members of the convention.

Also, he stressed the academic seminars and debates in the Leadership Council that occurred during the previous months.

This "reflects the pluralism and diversity of opinions of the members of the university community," president Sanchez stated.

Concern about the new Constitutional draft

The leading authority of UC Chile highlighted that, regarding the new constitutional draft, "it is appropriate to emphasize the aspects important to the university and related to our founding principles".

President Sánchez described that a Constitution must be the Fundamental Charter that unites us, which leaves behind the divisions among the Chileans.

According to him, this new draft and the articles proposed "have had a tone of revenge", which is of particular concern.

Among the topics of the constitutional draft that worries UC Chile's president are:

the respect for life and dignity of people;
the insufficient protection and care for the freedom of education
and the respect for religious freedom, among others.

"There is still time to correct errors and omissions that, if maintained, would make it impossible to support a constitutional proposal that goes against our deepest principles and the higher education that the country requires and demands," President Sánchez concluded.

On Digital Transformation and Applied Ethics

The University is undergoing a digital transformation.

In his speech, President Sánchez detailed that the Office of Digital Transformation was created in 2021 to lead the consolidation of an institutional data model as the first stage of the digital process.

"This transformation requires a cultural change in the community," he emphasized.

He also informed that in 2021 UC Chile founded the Institute of Applied Ethics, an interdisciplinary space to contribute to the reflection and ethical thinking inside and outside the University.

"Contingency experienced by our country, due to political and social crisis as well as the Coronavirus pandemic, revealed the origin of many of our problems has deep ethical roots. Therefore, it is of special relevance and necessary that universities -especially those of Catholic identity– work on their own ethical culture."

Advances in Internationalization

President Sánchez also detailed the University's progress in the area of internationalization.

"This area drives and nurtures our creativity and allows us to learn about other cultures and prepares us to resolve global conflicts.", stated.

In 2020 the University created the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs to be in charge of the University's international relations.

Two years later, there are several accomplishments.

Among the milestones he mentioned were creating the "Pallqa program of cooperation and leadership in an international context" and establishing quotas for international mobility for students with disabilities.

He also highlighted the relationship of UC Chile in international networks such as La Triada, Artesanos de la Unidad and Oducal and the work done jointly with the Chile-Italy and Chile-France Forums.