A University that educates "conscious citizens before intelligent workers," countering a general approach "caught between numbers and the demands of classification and monetization, aimed at translating into a marketable product." This was the vision outlined today by the Rector of the University of the Republic of San Marino, Corrado Petrocelli, during the inauguration ceremony for the 2017–18 academic year held at the Kursaal del Titano Congress Center. Before an audience including Their Excellencies the Captains Regent, representatives of institutions, trade unions, and private entities, as well as universities such as Bologna, Parma, Ferrara, Macerata, Bari, Modena, and Reggio Emilia, Petrocelli emphasized the value of the University "as an investment, not an expense," also emphasizing the University's mission to "make students strong, not knowledge weak." The Rector emphasizes the international dimension of the University of San Marino, citing the growing number of agreements with academic institutions in countries such as France, Switzerland, Argentina, Colombia, China, Russia, and New Zealand. He then goes on to describe research projects in the healthcare sector, "such as the one currently supported on monitoring Alzheimer's disease," and in the field of design "in countries such as Madagascar, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine."
During the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Culture and Education, Marco Podeschi, assured the university of its "absence of financial cuts," acknowledging the value of a program that contributes to the country's "new development model." Patrizio Bianchi, Councilor for the Coordination of European Development Policies, Schools, Vocational Training, Universities, Research, and Employment for the Emilia-Romagna Region, also spoke. Following Petrocelli's remarks, he noted that "in universities, we have professors, but we need teachers of understanding and therefore of civility."
This is the starting point of the keynote address by Maurizio Viroli, professor of Political Theory at Princeton University: "Forming the civic conscience of young people must be the mission of universities that aspire to become institutions of excellence in the true sense of the word, places where the best young people aspire and from which a new elite capable of undertaking the task of the civic rebirth of our republic can emerge." His full address is available on the University of San Marino's website, www.unirsm.sm
