Gentlemen of the cloister, sit down and uncover your heads.
The session opens.
The investiture of new doctors from the International Doctoral
School who have defended their doctoral thesis in the 2024-2025 academic year
will take place.
The floor is now open to Mr. José Bernardo San Juan, who
will deliver the Laudato Y as godfather of the new doctors.
Your Excellency, Sir of the King Juan Carlos
University, Your Illustrious Secretary
General, Your Illustrious Madam, Director
of the International Doctoral School,
Academic Authorities, Faculty, Dear new
Doctors, Family and Friends.
Umberto Eco wrote what is undoubtedly
the most famous book on how to write
a doctoral thesis.
There, she defined it in two notes as
a learning exercise and a test of personal maturity.
Shortly after starting my doctoral thesis, I remember
borrowing that book from the faculty library.
It was an old Gedisa edition published in Mexico,
and only God knows how it had ended up at
that moment in University City.
I remember that in one of the chapters Eco explained
with deceptive simplicity each of the steps to prepare the thesis.
Someone who was undoubtedly trying to follow him.
I had underlined that part and written it by hand,
in thick strokes and in capital letters.
That's not so easy.
For that reason, and without taking away any point
from the Italian semiotician, I, being more human
and in accordance with my own experience, like to
focus on two other aspects, those mentioned in the prologue of 1/1 of Don
Quixote.
There, a Cervantes already in his twilight years,
was reflecting on the work he had just written.
And having before me thus that vast expanse of pages,
I wrote to the reader that you can believe me without
oath that I would like this book, as a child of
understanding, to be the most beautiful, the most
gallant and the most discreet that could be imagined
when, as we have all wanted from our theses.
And Cervantes continues.
But I have not been able to contravene the order of nature
in which each thing gives rise to its like.
What could my sterile and poorly cultivated
wit possibly produce but the story of a dry,
withered, capricious son, full of various thoughts?
Because, dear new doctors, Cervantes's piously
human gaze was aware that his work, like your
theses, contained within itself something of the greatness of its author.
But it also contained within it a way of being,
its defects and manias, its obsessions, even
a certain smell, in short, the makings of each one.
And later on, Cervantes says: Many times I took up the
pen to write the prologue and many times I put it down
because I didn't know what I would write.
It describes a situation of anguish,
of horror at the blank page, which
you have surely faced in recent years.
There is a secret gallery that unites those who
have undertaken great projects in their lives:
writing a thesis, founding a company, starting a family.
A secret gallery.
We said that it is substantiated in the experience
of looking back once the project is finished and
remembering the sleepless nights, the uncertainties
of not knowing if we were on the right track, the
lack of security and then having the certainty
that if we had known everything that was going to
cost us before undertaking it, we simply would not have done it.
For Eco, a thesis was a learning exercise
and a test of personal maturity.
With Cervantes we could say that he is like one of our
own children and certainly a very difficult challenge.
Ortega y Gasset was also a devoted follower of Cervantes.
In 1931 he gave some lectures that
later became newspaper articles
and later still, a volume that is a real delight.
University Mission.
It might be interesting, now that you have reached the
highest university level, to revisit some of the ideas contained therein.
Ortega said, in essence, that the University
should serve to: one, train professionals;
two, teach how to research; and three, a
third mission to which he attached great
importance, but which had remained as
something residual: to learn how to be in the world.
And he compared man's situation to that of Dante at the beginning of the Divine
Comedy.
In that work the poet took a stroll through hell,
climbed Mount Purgatory, and ascended through
the different rings of heaven.
But the starting point was truly unusual.
The comedy began with the writer waking up
in a confusing space in the middle of a dark
jungle, a jungle jungle, a wild jungle.
Well, as Ortega said, that is the
existential situation of man.
That is the fundamental realization
of early youth: to know that we have been
thrown into a dark and wild jungle.
In verses by Rubén Darío: To be and to know nothing and to be
without a certain direction and the fear of having been and
a future terror and the sure horror of being dead tomorrow
and to suffer for life and for the shadow and for what we do not know and barely
suspect.
And the meat that tempts with its fresh clusters and the
tomb that awaits with its funereal bouquets and not
knowing where we are going or where we come from.
Faced with this awareness, the University had
to offer precisely a direction, not one, but rather many.
To each their own.
Remember Ortega's words: Learning to be in the world.
Well, dear new doctors, I think
that this is eminently true of you.
On the one hand, his works become part of a
constellation of scientific texts that have
allowed us to live longer, to have better health,
to significantly reduce, for example, hunger
on the planet, have helped us to travel from one
continent to another, to be able to talk from
almost anywhere in real time with my mother. Each
of his theses, as Cervantes wanted, is minuscule,
it has the adjusted dimensions of each one of you,
but it also has the enormous proportions of a
collective, of a shared project, of a common home.
Over the last five centuries, Europe has been the best cradle of human
progress, because thousands of people like you have been the driving
force behind our development and have pushed us to be able to exist in the
world.
On the other hand, the very construction of
the thesis is eloquent about the path they have taken.
Simply put, in a society that frequently
seeks immediate gratification.
Nobody writes a thesis to get rich.
The most common experience is that of writing a
thesis while facing many difficulties.
The decision to do so can only be understood from a
certain position, from a way of being in the world
that includes service to society from a
frequently countercultural perspective.
You are living proof that the best human
achievements are arduous, not immediate,
and have unexpected effects that
we often barely know about.
You know that effort is worthwhile.
They have fought against the temptation to give up.
You have fled from the easy path.
They have not sought social relevance or easy followers on social media.
They have simply put the result of several years
of work into hundreds of pages, which will
also eventually be made public.
And all this as Cervantes wanted, without
taking ourselves too seriously.
Isn't this the best demonstration that the University
has transmitted to them a peculiar way of being in this world?
Dear new doctors, dear colleagues, I now address
you informally because you have become one of us.
Welcome to what is rightfully your home.
Please accept my sincerest congratulations.
Thank you so much.
We are going to proceed with the investiture of the new doctors, since you
have
demonstrated your knowledge and doctrine and have been deemed worthy to
obtain the highest academic degree in the use of the authority that has been
conferred upon me.
I declare you invested with the doctoral dignity, in witness
whereof you will receive the insignia of your honor and dignity
and the fraternal embrace of those who are honored and
pleased to be your brothers and companions.
The General Secretariat will proceed with the call for the new doctors.
Esteban Regules.
Polledo Zulueta.
María Soledad Rodríguez Esperanza.
Juan José Robledo.
Ana Mayo López.
Eduardo Villamil Cabello.
Pilar Martínez Barranco.
Claudia Andrea Valenzuela Ríos.
Francisco Javier Peñalver Párraga.
The top leader Fidel was On State Munera and
future or disciple Universitat Dishonored Post in Ayer.
Yes, I promise.
I promise.
I swear.
I promise.
Elena González Rodríguez.
Oliver Martínez Pozas.
Miguel Molina Álvarez.
David Morales Tejera.
Nestor Requejo Salinas.
Fernanda Gil.
Almagro.
José Manuel Martínez Rengifo.
Juan Carlos Hernández.
José Manuel Valero Esteban.
Francisco Ginés Fernández Palacios.
Peinara de Souza Carneiro.
Exact with the utmost diligence.
They may be in the future or disciple a Sonoran
University or without anyone.
I promise.
I swear.
I promise.
I swear.
To Fandi.
Eliana Bejarano Murillo.
Cristina Rincón Sánchez.
Clara Vidal.
Fernández.
Arthur.
Julian Abellan.
Seville.
Laura.
García Fernández.
Emerald.
Gomez Lopez.
Virginia.
Ramírez Herrero.
I promise.
I swear.
I promise.
I swear.
I promise.
Williams Rafael Ruiz Regalado.
Francisco José Sanz López.
Miguel Ángel Vázquez Vázquez.
Miguel Ángel Aguirre Borracho.
Marco Antonio Moreno Esquinas.
Antonio Jesús.
Chacón García.
Rocío Chávez Jiménez.
Gonzalo Contreras Aso.
Ana de Dios Cubillas.
Noelia.
Fernández Prado.
Because they Gospel that utmost diligence.
FIDE that invoices honestly.
Disciple of your university and sonorous a world.
I promise.
I swear. Yes.
I swear.
Yes, gold.
I promise.
Victoria García Almodóvar.
Sandra González Muñoz.
Marina Ramos Muñoz.
Fernando.
Leonardo Vera Vaquero.
David.
Valle Fernández.
Noelia.
García Vázquez.
Alexander.
Piera Ruiz.
Aymara.
Blanco Romero.
Oscar.
Escudero Hernández.
Elena.
García Rojas.
Maximum diligence FIDE Atque on state Monereo
Futuro UNCo Disciple Trump I promise
Universitat to be available in case.
I promise.
I swear.
I promise.
María Teresa García Català.
Javier Gómez Sánchez.
Andrés González.
Sergio Hernández García.
Francisco Jesús Lara.
Abel.
Lara Llopis.
Igor.
Sergio.
Raul.
Montes León.
Pablo.
Solano López.
Oscar.
Soto Sánchez.
Lorena.
Rodríguez Calzada.
My maximum
I trust that honestly future world
quo disciples
honorem universities without augury.
I promise.
I swear.
The Extraordinary Doctoral Awards for the 2024-2025
academic year will be presented.
The General Secretariat will proceed to call the award winners.
Juan José Robledo Tanga.
Blanca Esteban Regules.
Genis.
Polledo Zulueta Law.
Nestor.
Requejo Salinas.
Peinara de Souza Carneiro.
Miguel Ángel Vázquez Vázquez.
Marine.
Ramos Muñoz.
Andrew.
Gonzalez.
Banfield.
Pablo.
Solano López.
Good morning and welcome to this auditorium of the Rectorate.
Today is a ceremony filled with solemnity and emotion with the
investiture of the new class of doctors from our University,
honoring the highest degree of academic excellence.
A demand for excellence that is especially timely in our times.
In increasingly technological times, noise takes precedence
over reflection, and speed detracts from our attention to
the present, the slow, the laborious, to that which demands time and patience.
Because the university is not only called to transmit
technical knowledge, but also to train people capable of
thinking freely, of seeking the truth and of understanding
that true learning requires time, patience and depth.
That is why the university needs symbols, liturgies and
ceremonies, because its mission demands time, respect and continuity.
And that is precisely why symbols remain important.
Academic ceremonies and rituals.
They are not a mere empty tradition; they are the visible expression
of an intellectual heritage built over centuries by generations
of teachers, researchers, and students who understood that
knowledge deserves respect and continuity.
The University is heir to that great humanist tradition that for
centuries has placed the search for truth and service to society
at the center of its mission and at the same time is the living
institution that has been able to adapt to each era without giving
up anything essential: to teach, to research and
to transform the world through knowledge.
Today that mission takes on extraordinary relevance.
We are not facing a struggle between human intelligence and artificial
intelligence, but rather the need to strengthen a critical intelligence
capable of distinguishing the true amidst the noise, superficiality, and
misinformation.
A university understood solely as a repository of data or
technical skills would be useless, because nothing replaces
the ability to teach, to think critically, to innovate, to
understand the best of human beings, and to build an increasingly free society.
In the end, when a student finishes their studies, the big question
is not only what they know, but also who they are.
Or as Pindar wrote, one has come to Comillas to be who one truly is.
I close quotation marks and it's likely that any of us
here will be asked the name of a teacher we remember.
We certainly don't answer that it was the one who taught us the most algebra
or articles of the Civil Code, but rather the one who awakened our
curiosity and taught us to aspire to something more.
That is the university we want to champion.
There is a university that improves people's lives, that focuses its
teaching and research activities on relevant problems, that turns
doctoral theses into scientific, social, cultural and, of course, technological
advances.
And that is precisely the mission that I want to reaffirm here today
before the new doctors of the King Juan Carlos University.
Research not only aims to expand knowledge, but also
has the mission of transforming the world.
Because, at its core, research is one of the deepest expressions of humanity.
We investigate because we need to understand, because we want to
find answers where others only see uncertainty.
This eagerness to seek answers in the shadows of the laboratory,
in the historical archive or in data analysis is the same impulse
that has allowed humanity to advance, to unity, to humanity for centuries.
In that sense, the university, since its medieval origins, stands
not only as an archive of past knowledge, but as a workshop where the
knowledge of the future is forged, safe from immediacy and superficiality.
Our obligation is not to be mere spectators of the future, but to
anticipate any opportunity for progress for humanity.
Without research, in short, there is no innovation.
Without innovation there is no hope.
And, of course, there would be no future.
And that vocation for research and service to society is what is reflected
today in all of you, from the sciences to the humanities.
You represent the extraordinary diversity of university
knowledge and embody the same idea that knowledge does not make us uniform, but
unites us.
The University has demonstrated for centuries that the passion for
discovery always ends up overcoming all obstacles.
Along the way, great minds had to challenge the skepticism
of the time so that science could advance.
Marie Curie risked her own health to unravel
the secrets of matter's memory and, moreover,
to be an extraordinary innovation in medicine.
She said that life.
There is nothing to fear.
There are only things to understand.
Charles Darwin also challenged the absolute truths of his time to
decipher the origin of life, as did the physicist Planck,
who revolutionized our understanding of reality.
Available for purchase in the quantum universe, reminding us that science is a
journey into the invisible.
The university, as we see, is heir to a long
tradition of study that goes back centuries.
It is also the thermometer and witness of each era and place.
It is up to us to care for and project that heritage into the future.
And the doctorate probably represents the highest expression of that university
mission, that of generating new knowledge and putting it at the service of society.
Dear doctors, today we see in you people who have
dedicated years of your life to a demanding
task, often silent and not always easy.
Years of effort, of doubts, of long nights, of corrections, of starting over.
And also of small victories that only those who have walked that path
understand.
And that's where the achievement acquires its full value.
You have demonstrated rigor, perseverance and the ability to overcome
challenges, but above all, you have understood something essential: that true
learning never ends.
Research is not just about finding answers, but
also about continuing to ask questions.
The university of the 21st century needs precisely that: people capable
not only of generating knowledge, but also of sharing it, transmitting
it, and putting it at the service of the common good.
And that responsibility now falls on you as well.
From today we are incorporating you in a new way into the academic
history of the Rey Juan Carlos University.
A modern, dynamic and open university that in just a few years has
been able to consolidate itself thanks to the work of thousands of
students, professors and researchers who have understood
higher education as a true vocation of service.
From today you are part of that academic community in a deeper
way and wherever you develop your career, you will also carry
with you this university and the values ​​it represents.
Today we celebrate your degrees, yes, but also something more
important: we celebrate the addition of new custodians of knowledge,
new voices, called to expand knowledge and contribute
from their disciplines to a better society.
I hope you maintain that curiosity that has brought you here
and I hope you never lose sight of the fact that knowledge
only reaches its true meaning when it is put at the service of others.
Let us continue to move forward together in this exciting task of seeking the
truth.
If you will allow me to end this intervention with a quote from
Pope Leo XIII, who has visited Madrid in recent days and, as you
know, is in Barcelona and subsequently the Canary Islands, he
has achieved a feat, which is that, at least for a few days, this
political struggle has been completely
anesthetized, and hopefully it will last a little longer.
Regardless of individual beliefs or political stances,
I truly believe it has been something extraordinary.
Therefore, I will end with a quote of his, which is the truth, it is always
greater than all of us.
Thank you very much and my sincerest congratulations.
Doctors.
To conclude the event, I invite you to stand and sing Gaudeamus.
The session is adjourned.