Josep Antoni Rom takes office as the new rector of the URL

Josep Maria Garrell dedicated his first words to congratulate the new rector and his team: "Those who know me, and here today there are mostly people who know me well or very well, know—you know—that I am a team player, and—therefore—I believe that success comes collectively. I do not wish to shirk any kind of responsibility, but the evolution that our University has undergone in recent years is the result of the work and effort of many people, including the rector's team and, logically, also the Rector".

The rector, who has held the post of rector for the last ten years, then "looked back" and stated that "institutionally speaking, the collective balance of the evolution of our Ramon Llull University, as a federal university that brings together several souls, is good to very good".

The second part of his speech was focused on thanking "the many people and the many institutions" with whom he has shared his journey. Garrell mentioned the spirit of collaboration and dialogue with the political parties, with the various parliamentary forces and with the public administrations. Garrell singled out in particular the members of the Catalan Government's Department of Research and Universities, the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, and the members of the Catalan Parliament: "When I see how far we have come, I cannot help but think of how much remains to be done, such as the much-needed update of the Catalan Universities Act. Or a new organic legal system in the State that respects the diversity of universities, and that looks towards Europe". He also called on the Vives Network, the Deusto and Comillas universities with which the URL maintains the Campus of International Excellence (CEI) project, the CRUE and the USA, Banco Santander and "la Caixa", the ETHOS Ramon Llull Chair, Càritas, Mans Unides and UNESCO.

Garrell then "turned his gaze inwards to the URL" to focus his thanks on "this house where I have worked for the last 30 years". He began by talking about La Salle and the former rector Esther Giménez-Salinas; he went on to mention the URL Board of Trustees, Cardinal Omella, and the presidents L. Rodés, J.J. Brugera, J. Martínez-Rovira and A. Millet. He also highlighted the general directors of the URL institutions, the deans of the centers and the representatives of the research and teaching staff, the administration and service staff and the students: "I want to say a special word for our students, the first and last raison d'être of any university. The students, represented through the Student Council, and especially through its Standing Committee, have always been part of the project. People, and also institutions, are truly measured in difficult times. We have experienced tough times with the Standing Committee of the Student Council, and they have always, always had an exceptional institutional vision. And you are a sample of the professionals that we want to emerge from our classrooms and who will undoubtedly contribute to building a better world".

Garrell closed his speech by alluding to the Rectorate and the people who comprise it and have helped him over the years: "From this work I will miss nothing more than the learning opportunities it has given me, and the people I have met, especially the people. The friends I have made over the years and who, unfortunately, I will not be able to see so often from now on".

Following this, Josep Antoni Rom began his speech by thanking Garrell for his persistent, loyal and tireless work: "Josep Maria Garrell is a man of many qualities who has worked for over ten years to drive this project forward. And I can't imagine it could be done any better. In this decade our rector has covered more miles, knocked on more doors and presented our university to more groups and institutions than any minister in any government. (…) We may be somewhat small, but the rector has made us very visible, locally, statewide and internationally. He has done work of a colossal magnitude, and we don't need the distance of time to value it, it is evidence of our everyday life".

Rom focused his speech on the mission of the URL. As a professor of advertising and marketing, he has drawn on the University's logo, which he himself designed more than 30 years ago, to express that the URL tree connects the earthly with the spiritual, the more tangible with the intangible, matter with knowledge: "On a day like today, it still seems to me to be a great metaphor for what we are and what we aspire to be as an academic community. Our symbol evokes our federation, a group of institutions, like the branches of the tree, with deeply embedded roots and a differentiated model of a not-for-profit university, at the service of society. All the branches form the tree, they vary in size, but they all have a role that complements us". In this sense, the new rector added: "We have a legacy, but also the responsibility to keep it alive and active. Like the tree, we must regenerate and adapt in order for new branches to grow. The world is changing".

The new rector gave an optimistic speech on the challenges facing the URL based on three axes: cohesion, values and innovation: "I am only going to announce today that the challenges mentioned are so great that we will only be able to face them through cohesion, through our ability to take advantage of each other's initiatives and to sense new opportunities. We will also have to face them with creativity, which is a skill based on the ability to make connections, unexpected connections that arise from open, free and uninhibited mindsets. The greatest challenge of the upcoming years is to take advantage of the diversity and complexity of our organization in order to be disruptive, so that the URL model continues to be an alternative model, an organization that is true to the Catalan and Spanish university system, that regards itself and the world as an organization that is young in spirit, mature in the experience of these three decades and brazen in its attitude".

In conclusion, Rom expressed his gratitude to Blanquerna and Salvador Pié for proposing this new challenge to him; to President Millet for his enthusiasm and energy; to all the presidents and general managers of the institutions for supporting him; and, above all, to the rector team.