Redaccion
Around a thousand students from the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) are celebrating their graduation this weekend in Logroño in a solemn academic ceremony that marks the culmination of their effort and dedication in obtaining their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
José María Vázquez García-Peñuela, rector of UNIR, addressed the graduates gathered at the Palacio de Congresos y Auditorio de La Rioja, Riojaforum, in the first of three ceremonies that, between this Friday and Saturday, divide the graduation according to the different faculties.
A total of 999 students are graduating this year: 627 are attending in person and 372 are following the ceremony online. The graduates mainly come from Spain, but also from countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, Austria, the United States, and even the United Arab Emirates, evidence of UNIR’s internationalization.
RECOGNITION OF EFFORT AND PERSEVERANCE
In his speech, the rector of UNIR praised the personal effort of the students. «To become a distinguished professional in any field, a well-tempered, firm will is required. And that depends, above all, on ourselves, on the effort we put in. Most goals in this life depend on our effort,» he emphasized.
Today’s graduation ceremony brought together 326 graduates from the Faculty of Education and Humanities at UNIR: 174 in person and 152 online.
Vázquez García-Peñuela also wanted to highlight that «helping our coworkers, our family members, or our friends in different ways is a duty we all have, and fulfilling it makes this world more inhabitable and ourselves better. Many of you have the experience of receiving different types of help while you were studying the Bachelor’s or Master’s degree you have completed. We are very grateful to all those people, usually your family members, at UNIR. We are also very grateful to you for your effort.»
Mercedes Querol Julián, coordinator of Research at the Faculty of Education and Humanities at UNIR, delivered the keynote speech titled ‘Beyond Words: The Power of Multimodal Literacy’.
«It is a competence that encompasses the human. It is about how we make ourselves understood, how we make the other person feel, how we build relationships, how we teach, and how we learn,» the professor stated. Querol added, «Today you are receiving a degree, but I would also like you to leave this graduation with the conviction that communication is much more than just speaking. That education is much more than teaching. Your multimodal literacy, which you have cultivated among classrooms, practices, projects, and people, is also a way to build a more empathetic, fairer, more conscious society.»
On behalf of her peers, Olaia Gutiérrez Jiménez, a graduate of the Master’s Degree in Neuropsychology and Education at UNIR, shared some heartfelt words: «Throughout this journey, we have learned much more than theories and concepts. It has not been easy, and therein lies the true value of what we are celebrating today. The greatest prize is not the degree, but the path traveled and the people with whom we have traveled it.»
SATURDAY GRADUATIONS
The Saturday agenda will continue with two more ceremonies.
In the morning, 363 graduates from the Faculties of Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, and Law at UNIR will celebrate their graduation. Of these, 234 will attend in person and 129 virtually.
This ceremony will be presided over by Octavio Corral Pazos de Provens, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. The keynote speech, ‘Hunger to Want’, will be delivered by Enrique Ferrari Nieto, vice-dean of Research at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Miguel Garrido Romanos, a graduate of the Master’s Degree in Musical Composition with New Technologies at UNIR, will address his cohort.
In the afternoon, it will be the turn of the 310 graduates from the Faculty of Economics and Business and the School of Engineering and Technology (ESIT) at UNIR. At the Riojaforum, 219 graduates will gather in person and 91 online.
Eva Asensio del Amo, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, will preside over the event. Luis Miguel Garay Gallastegui, director of the Computer Science and Technology Area, will deliver the keynote speech titled ‘A Transformative Look at Technology: Stories of Those Who Did Not Give Up’. Finally, Manuel Navajas Martínez, a graduate of the Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources and Labor Relations at UNIR, will address his peers.
ABOUT UNIR
UNIR is a university that offers quality higher education through the most innovative technologies, always with the student at the center of its activities. In Spain, it offers 55 Bachelor’s degrees, 155 official Master’s degrees, 83 proprietary titles, and 4 doctoral programs aimed at providing comprehensive and personalized education to over 90,000 students studying in its hybrid classrooms from a hundred nations, mainly in Spain and Latin America.
Its teaching method, tailored to the demands of the job market, makes UNIR a true social lever that breaks barriers and helps everyone, wherever they are, achieve their dreams of education and personal and professional progress. UNIR belongs to the Proeduca educational group, which, together with other higher education and non-regulated education centers, serves more than 105,000 students.
