In an extraordinary session, five of the eight members of the Higher University Council (CSU) corrected the questioned election of Ismael Peña as rector and elected Professor Leopoldo Múnera, who will direct the most important public university in the country for the next three years.
In March, the CSU used a method called “Borda” that eliminated direct voting as a democratic election mechanism, in violation of the general statute of the University (Agreement 011 of 2005, art. 72). Peña, considered the favorite of the outgoing rector Dolly Montoya, did not have the support of the university community, which in the popular consultation leaned towards Múnera.
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After his controversial election and without the signature of the Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara, Peña self-possessed himself before private witnesses in a Notary Office in Bogotá, which generated criticism and rejection, in addition to a series of legal, administrative, constitutional and criminal actions. .
The CSU considered that the failed election of Peña was an administrative act that was not legally concluded, since the legitimation act was never signed by the Minister of Education or by the two Delegates of the President of the Republic before the Superior Council.
Consequently, Peña’s appointment was not final, basing the Government’s refusal on the fact that the “Borda” method vitiated said election. For this reason, the Council met in the San Agustín Cloister to resolve the uncertainty in the management of the National University and avoid the cancellation of the semester due to the strike.
Based on article 41 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Colombia, they corrected the irregularities that occurred on March 21 with the election of Ismael Peña. Resolution 067 called another session, where direct voting was applied, resulting in Leopoldo Múnera being elected rector.
The presidential delegates, María Alejandra Rojas and Nataly Garzón, the former rector Víctor Manuel Moncayo, the student representative Laura Quevedo, and the vice minister of Education, Alejandro Álvarez Gallego, participated, who voted for Múnera, winner of the university consultation. Representatives Diego Torres, Verónica Botero and Ignacio Mantilla withdrew from the session.
At 66 years old, Leopoldo Múnera, a lawyer with a PhD in Political Science, a master’s degree in Development and a master’s degree in Philosophy of Law, will take on the challenge of resolving the crisis at the National University. Múnera, who has been an undergraduate and graduate professor at the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the National University, has also held the positions of dean of the Faculty of Law and vice-rector of the Bogotá Campus. His students have already requested the lifting of the strike.
Humberto Rosanía, appointed by the government of Iván Duque as representative to the National Council of Higher Education, left his position, which marked one of the changes in the composition of the highest university decision-making body. In addition, some allies of Peña, who brought him to office irregularly, also abandoned their representations.
Another significant change in the CSU was the resignation of Sara Jiménez, the student representative, under pressure from the students’ demands because she did not respect their will in the votes. On May 23, Laura Vianey Quevedo Álvarez was elected as the new student representative, and promised to respect the decisions of the university community and vote in favor of Leopoldo Múnera in the June 6 session.
Added to these events was a debate on political control promoted by right-wing senators Paloma Valencia and María Fernanda Cabal, who supported a possible rectorship of Peña. However, Minister Vergara responded: “At this moment the position of rector of the National University is vacant.”
