The University of Navarra celebrated the graduation of the 79 Alumni scholarship recipients who completed their studies this year programs of study. The ceremony, which took place at the classroom Magna of the Central Building, was presided over by Rosalía Baena, Vice President Students, and included speeches by Isabel Olloqui, director of development Corporate of the University of Navarra; Ignacio López Goñi, Full Professor of Microbiology, director of the Science Museum of the University and godfather of the XX promotion; and Marcos Casado, student of the School of Medicine, who spoke on behalf of his classmates.

A total of 429 young people are studying this year at programs of study thanks to this program, aimed at students with good transcript who wish to study at the University of Navarra. The budget scholarships amount to more than 3.6 million euros, with an average amount of 8,607 euros per scholarship.

The Vice President for Students and International Relations, Rosalía Baena, had words of thanks for donors, managers, professors and the University's Corporate development service, who make the Alumni Scholarships program possible. "This program is good not only for the students and their families, as financial aid helps them to achieve what they have set out to do. It is also good for society as a whole, because we contribute to training people who work and are committed, and we create a University open to all where there is a plurality of profiles. And of course it is also good for the University itself, because it is you who make it excellent, with your efforts and your aspirations," she said. Rosalía Baena congratulated the 79 graduates and encouraged them to be "ambassadors of the University and of the great ideals that sustain us here, ideals that can help many people to find the true north in their lives". 

20 years of Alumni Scholarships: 39.6 million euros to support talent

The Alumni Scholarshipsgoal was launched in 2003 with the aim of enabling talented students to study at the University of Navarra, regardless of their financial situation, programs of study status . The program is supported by contributions from companies, friends of the University, alumni and other individuals and institutions that believe in the project of the academic center.

Since then, 1,947 university students have benefited from these grants, receiving 39.6 million euros, contributed by 17,371 individuals and 51 companies. The Alumni Scholarships program is included in the project +Scholarships, which is part of the University of Navarra's Strategy 2025. 

Professor Ignacio López Goñi also took part in the ceremony as sponsor of the graduating class. "We all need each other and together we can go much further. This is what moves us to work at the University of Navarra: to love freedom, to build bridges, not to build walls, creative cooperation to solve the problems of today's society," he said. He also asked the graduates to get involved in the future that awaits them and to help change the world, putting all their creativework , their science and their intelligence at the service of others. "I am convinced that you will succeed, because you, this class of University of Navarra Alumni Scholars, are the best."

Along the same lines, Isabel Olloqui, director of development Corporate at the University of Navarra, said, "This program was born 20 years ago to attract talent to the University of Navarra so that it can - later on - be disseminated throughout the world and contribute to making it better." Olloqui urged the Alumni Fellows to be generous, to work with a vocation of service to society and to contribute so that the chain of financial aid to the excellence of Alumni Scholarships "never disappears".

Finally, Marcos Casado expressed his gratitude and that of his colleagues to the University and to those who have made his participation in the program possible: "The scholarship Alumni is a recognition of effort, submission and passion for learning. But beyond that, it is a testimony of magnanimity. The magnanimity of those who, having traveled their own academic path, decide to bet on the future of others," he said. He also addressed the families, "who have instilled in us from our youth the ideals of submission and selfless service". Nearing the end of his programs of study at the University, he asked his fellow students to live "with the highest ideals of generosity, kindness and love." "This scholarship challenges us to give the best of ourselves, not for recognition or reward, but simply because it is the right thing to do," he concluded.