PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES OF MADRID

The Governing Councils of the six public universities of Madrid, meeting in extraordinary sessions on November 28, 2024, and representing their university communities, express their deep concern about a situation in which the commitment and quality of their public service is questioned almost daily, despite the fact that the facts and national and international recognition show otherwise. This questioning contradicts the widespread recognition by students, their families, companies and institutions of the essential contribution of our public universities to regional and national development, all of which is supported by the academic, research and knowledge transfer quality of our six public universities.

Madrid's public universities continue to be the main driving force of development and the most efficient social elevator, despite the serious underfunding they have suffered since the financial crisis of the last decade. This lack of resources puts at risk the investments necessary to modernize and expand our training offer, renew and consolidate our staff and improve the essential infrastructures to guarantee a quality public service. The university, and higher education in general, are a common good that promotes both individual and collective progress, at the service of the whole society. Our public universities are a productive asset in which we must continue to invest.

Furthermore, our public universities are privileged spaces for the debate of ideas and models, places of coexistence, plurality, tolerance and dialogue. They have always been and will continue to be so. They are not, in any way, centers of indoctrination. Our commitment is to knowledge, research, transfer, culture, artistic creation and the training of the people and professionals that our society needs. Nearly 220,000 students and their families trust our universities, and around 30,000 professionals work every day to make this project possible. We express our rejection of our institutions being used as an instrument in a partisan and simplistic debate.

The public university has been key in the training of those who have contributed to building our coexistence and mutual respect between people and institutions in recent decades. It is time to protect and strengthen it. Today more than ever, a renewed social pact is needed to allow the university to continue fulfilling the public service entrusted to it.

The Community of Madrid, in its role as one of the most important drivers of the Spanish economy, cannot allow its academic institutions to be relegated to a precarious state that compromises their ability to train talent and promote research and innovation to contribute to collective progress. The regional administration and universities must join forces, act responsibly and with a vision for the future, guaranteeing adequate funding from the Community of Madrid that allows public universities to continue fulfilling their role as fundamental pillars of the technological and economic competitiveness of companies, as well as the well-being of Madrid society.

For the future of higher education and the progress of our society, let us defend public universities.