University of Guadalajara

Infobox University
name = University of Guadalajara
(Universidad de Guadalajara)
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latin_name = Universitas Guadalaxaræ
motto = "Piensa y Trabaja", translation: (Think and Work)
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established = October 12, 1791
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type = Public university
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rector = Marco Antonio Cortés Guardado
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city = flagicon|MexicoGuadalajara
state = Jalisco
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country = Mexico
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sports = Swimming, Football, Baseball and Fencing
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athletics = Cachoros de la Universidad de Guadalajara
affiliations = College Board
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website = [http://www.udg.mx/ www.udg.mx]

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University of Guadalajara is a public University settled in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It is the second oldest University in Mexico,fact|date=September 2008 the fourth oldest in North Americafact|date=September 2008 and the fourteenth oldest in Latin America.fact|date=September 2008 It is regarded as one of the most significant Universities in Mexico, only behind by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in student population.

History

The University of Guadalajara has changed its structure, governing boards and goals throughout its 200 year history. Nevertheless it has retained the same educational focus and motivation throughout the years. Due to this consistent focus and motivation, this institution is considered to have its origins during the Spanish colonial period instead of at some point during later reforms which resulted from numerous political and social changes throughout Mexican history.

Beginnings

The creation of the University was a slow and tedious process which took approximately 100 years. The first person to request the creation of a University in Guadalajara was Father Felipe Galindo Chávez y Pineda, who asked King Charles II of Spain to elevate the Royal Council Seminary of San José to the rank of Royal University on July 12, 1696.

The second person to take up the cause of the University was Matías Angel de la Mota Padilla, who in 1750 forced the city council to make the founding of a university one of its priorities. Nevertheless it was not until the expulsion of Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from Spanish territories in 1767 that the necessity of a university in the region of the Nueva Galicia became urgent, because the Jesuits administered the two most important schools in the city: the Colleges of Saint Thomas and Saint John the Baptist.

On December 12, 1771, the person considered responsible for the foundation of the university arrived: the clergyman Father Antonio Alcalde y Barriga, the new bishop of the diocese of New Galicia. In 1775, he responded to a royal certificate from King Carlos III of Spain, in which the king asked for commentary on the placement of a university in the city of Guadalajara. The king received a positive response and noted Fr. Alcalde y Barriga's personal involvement in the project and ability to gain the support of various notable persons in the city. Due to these positive events, in 1791 the king issued a royal certificate pronouncing the foundation of the University of Guadalajara.

The following is an extract from this royal certificate:

"Resulting from consultation with my Indian Consul, the fifteenth of March of this year (1791), we elevate and establish a University in that city (Guadalajara of New Galicia), which applies only to the building of the School of St. Thomas, who was expelled, and the capitals of its clearly great and positive works, with the precise obligation to fulfill them, we pay for the erection of the building that was necessary, for the people of the city... I, the King."

Between 1821 and 1924

Between 1821 and 1924 the university experienced numerous changes, including temporary closings, fractures, refinancing and changes of denomination, caused on more than one occasion by political reasons. On June 14, 1821, the director Diego Aranda y Carpinteiro swore obedience in name from the university to the representative of the independentists of the Plan of Equals, general Pedro Celestino Negrete . With this recognition the university lost the title of "Royal and Literary Academy of New Galicia" and became the National University of Guadalajara, leaving the shield granted by the Spanish monarchy and taking the one from the independentists. In spite of such declaration of loyalty, the first temporary closing of the establishment decreed to Prisciliano Sanchez to it, the first governor of the state of Jalisco, in 1826, due to the turbulent state of the economy and the policy of the country after independence. The institution reopened its doors in 1834. Nevertheless such opening would not be free of trepidations.

Campuses of the University of Guadalajara

The University of Guadalajara (U. de G.) has 14 campuses ("Centros Universitarios"):

Six separate campuses in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, each specializing in a different area of study:

* CUAAD
* CUCBA
* CUCEA
* CUCEI
* CUCS
* CUCSH

Eight out of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area but inside of the State of Jalisco:

* CUALTOS
* CUCIENEGA
* CUCOSTA
* CULAGOS
* CUCSUR
* CUNORTE
* CUSUR
* CUVALLES

External links

* [http://www.udg.mx/ University of Guadalajara Official website] (In Spanish)
* [http://www.cucsh.udg.mx/phpofertacad/lics/indexlicestint.php Department of International Studies]