Proclamation

 
These  words  are  born  from  times  of  great  tension,  times  in  which  we  face  a  specter  
of  terrible  acts  of  sanctioned  violence  made  against  any  dissent,  and  of  the  
dangerous  aftermath  that  ensues.  The  University  of  Puerto  Rico,  alongside  the  
project  it  boldly  and  proudly  embodies,  faces  a  tragic  and  needless  end:  one  we  truly  
struggle  against.  Our  beloved  university  is  in  urgent  need  of  care,  of  attention  that  
can  only  be  found  in  an  unquestioning  labor  of  love  that  we  all  embrace.  
 
Conditional  love  is  not  true  love  and  as  such,  it  cannot  impose  itself  upon  a  broken  
and  battered  student  body.  This  is  why  we  denounce  all  forms  of  violence,  especially  
those  threatening  the  very  nature  of  a  university's  spirit  of  true  dialog-­‐spaces  
promoting  an  open  exchange  of  ideas.  This  exchange,  a  fundamentally  ethical-­‐
political  element,  requires  a  degree  of  openness  and  respect  towards  differing  and  
dissenting  opinions  which  cannot  exist  in  any  coercive  environment.  In  light  of  this,  
we  condemn  the  police  occupation  of  the  campuses  that  make  up  the  body  of  our  
university.  
 
Our  university  is  currently  held  hostage  by  an  authoritarian  and  anti-­‐intellectual  
faction  who  has  transformed  our  campus  into  a  battlefield  where  shells  charged  
with  fanatical  rhetoric  are  recklessly  fired  with  gleeful  abandonment.  We  hereby  
wish  to  address  this  faction  (embodied  by  our  own  administration)  and  call  for  an  
end  to  its  antidemocratic  ways.  It  is  our  belief  that  if  such  an  administration  were  to  
truly  and  honestly  care  for  our  beloved  university,  it  would  openly  join  in  the  
University's  communal  dialogue  for  the  purpose  of  achieving  a  fair  solution  to  the  
current  problems  we  are  all  facing.  
 
In  its  open  disregard  and  omission  of  our  student  body  viewpoints,  the  
administration  is  in  clear  violation  of  the  Middle  States  Commission  of  Higher  
Education’s  findings.  It  has  refused  to  share  governance,  or  any  part  of  the  decision-­‐
making  process,  with  those  who  make  up  the  university’s  community;  and  has  
ignored,  for  example,  the  community's  clear  rejection  of  administrative  
appointments,  as  well  as  dismissing  any  open  dialogue  or  negotiation  –vital  to  any  
democratic  society-­‐  with  these  community  members.  Participation  is  fixed  upon  
true  and  honest  acts  of  openness,  not  through  ratifying  abstract  certifications.  
 
These  violations  have  jeopardized  our  institution’s  accreditation,  plunging  us  into  
uncertainty  and  despair.  Because  of  this,  it  is  crucial  that  all  of  Puerto  Rico  
understand  a  single,  undeniable  fact:  this  administration  is  heralding  an  end  to  our  
UPR  through  its  stranglehold  policies.  
 
We  therefore  choose  to  raise  our  collective  voice  and  denounce  a  lack  of  
representation  of  the  university’s  community  by  the  administration's  response  to  no  
one  except  the  ruling  political  party;  a  party  that  has  consistently  attacked  all  
institutions  in  this  country.  Alongside  it's  political  bedfellow,  this  administration  has  
deceived  our  society  and  in  doing  so,  has  fostered  hatred  toward  the  country’s  first  
and  most  prestigious  university  and  its  students.  
 
The  University  of  Puerto  Rico,  through  its  students,  professors,  and  workers,  
forefronts  the  engine  of  change  and  modernization  in  this  country.  In  the  same  way  
that  the  UPR  would  fail  to  exist  without  the  country  that  birthed  and  strengthened  
it,  Puerto  Rico  itself  would  not  presently  be  what  it  is  without  its  public  university.  
During  this  modernization  process,  the  UPR  has  cradled  this  country’s  first  and  
finest  generation  of  professionals:  workers,  social  workers,  scientists,  lawyers,  
engineers,  architects,  farmers,  and  countless  others.  
 
The  UPR  has  consistently  contributed  to  socio-­‐cultural  development  through  the  
arts  and  humanities,  has  collaborated  in  the  fight  against  poverty  from  within  
classrooms  and  by  community  initiatives,  and  has  directly  influenced  the  livelihood  
of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  have  charted  a  course  out  of  
poverty  through  accessible  education.  For  these  reasons,  and  countless  others,  we  
are  against  our  University's  shutdown.  
 
There  is  no  room  for  either  strikes  or  administrative  lockouts.  It  is  time  to  defend  
our  university’s  “raison  d’  être,”  it’s  very  reason  for  being.  Even  in  our  recognition  of  
the  strike  as  a  valuable  and  democratic  tool  for  advancing  just  claims  and  demands,  
and  as  a  reinforcement  of  the  value  of  our  rights,  we  also  understand  that  our  
current  political  context  renders  such  an  exercise  null  and  void,  due  precisely  to  this  
government's  ideological  stubbornness  alongside  its  anti-­‐university  stance.  This  
current  government  seeks  violence  as  a  means  of  turning  the  UPR  into  a  police  state  
and,  in  so  doing,  eradicate  our  university’s  undertaking.  The  administration  wants  
and,  indeed,  needs  the  strike  in  order  to  ease  this  institutional  closure  and  its  
eventual  transformation  while  following  a  market  plan:  to  educate  those  who  can  
afford  it  and  who  will  ultimately  keep  quiet.  
 
It  is  impossible  to  speak  of  a  university  without  considering  its  political  and  
institutional  aspects.  The  university  does  not,  of  course,  exist  within  a  vacuum;  it  is  
rather  established  through  different  and  diverging  power  relations  taking  place  
within  and  around  its  social  periphery.  In  some  instances,  such  power  relations  
contribute  to  the  erosion  of  our  university’s  undertaking  as  an  enabler  of  critical  
thinking  and  a  fundamental  pillar  of  socio-­‐democratic  development.  In  this  we  must  
remain  adamant:  so  long  as  the  UPR  remains  under  paramilitary  siege,  there  can  be  
no  talk  of  university.  
 
Because  of  these  facts,  and  as  members  of  a  complex  community,  we  recognize  our  
political  role  in  the  development  of  the  University  Project.  Student  knowledge  is  not  
gained  merely  by  coming  to  class,  nor  can  it  be  deposited  into  the  mind.  
Whomsoever  chooses  to  call  him  or  herself  a  student  must  accept  that  knowledge  
depends  on  one’s  own  experiences,  from  testing  acquired  skills  and  challenging  the  
lessons  received.  To  contest  such  learning  is,  indeed,  the  basis  of  true  knowledge.  In  
the  end,  knowledge  stems  from  what  is  questioned,  not  from  what  is  blindly  
followed.  
  
We  fully  support  the  efforts  put  forth  by  our  Student  Representative  Committee,  as  
well  as  those  made  by  other  members  of  the  student  body  while  serving  as  the  
university’s  legislature.  We  call  upon  the  remaining  community  and  the  country  to  
uphold  all  genuine  forms  of  dialogue  aimed  at  keeping  our  University  Project  in  
motion.  Likewise,  and  as  active  members  of  our  university’s  community,  we  support  
any  and  all  initiatives  to  bring  about  the  open  debate  of  responsible  fiscal  solutions,  
such  as  the  Adding  Up  We  All  Win’s  proposal  (Sumando  ganamos  todos)  
 
We  understand  that  the  fiscal  problems  haunting  the  UPR  are  the  byproduct  of  a  
poor  administration.  In  order  to  dig  the  university  out  from  the  quicksand  of  
economic  deficit,  it  is  vital  that  the  government  reassigns  the  funds  that  were  taken  
out  of  the  UPR’s  budget,  and  that  all  sectors,  in  recognition  of  this  labor  of  love  and  
in  lieu  of  its  worth,  contribute  something  extra  to  the  institution's  reservoir.  
Students  can,  for  example,  agree  to  a  substantially  reduced  quota  while  seeking  out  
additional  sources  of  funding  as  an  aid  to  those  unable  to  pay  for  themselves.  
 
The  UPR  is  wracked  by  a  difficult  fiscal  and  academic  crisis,  brought  on  by  the  
current  administration's  anti-­‐intellectual  behavior.  It  is  up  to  us,  through  civil  
disobedience  and  in  a  declaration  of  what  is  just,  to  transform  the  political  act  of  
confrontation.  Our  actions  must  serve  to  unmask  those  lawless  injustices  and  abuses  
perpetrated  by  the  State,  by  university  regulations,  and  by  the  impending  fiscal  and  
police-­‐driven  lock-­‐down.  We  are  committed  to  uphold  this  civic  responsibility.  We  
will  use  disobedience  whenever  the  need  to  achieve  our  aims  arises.  
 
We  are  driven  by  our  declaration  of  love.  It  is  what  unites  us  in  an  undying  
commitment  to  challenge  injustice.