"If there is life, you have to keep educating yourself."

It was in the 2003-04 academic year when, under the impetus of the Office of the Vice President of Students (now the Vice Rectorate for Students), the University launched the Senior Program. What began with 23 students has grown exponentially and more than 1,000 people over the age of 55 have enrolled over the course of these 22 editions. The goal? To continue their education and nurture their cultural, humanistic and scientific interests.

Behind the organization and coordination of this curriculum has been Viviana Alegre, who now says goodbye to the University on the occasion of her retirement. In the following interview, Viviana shares memories and experiences of all these years.

Q. What is your first memory at the University?

My first memory dates back to 1996. I was living in Cordoba (Argentina) and, on my first trip to Europe with my husband, we included Pamplona in our tour of Spain. There was an acquaintance we wanted to say hello to and he showed us the campus, the Clinic, the Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love.

And I was delighted. That meeting with the beauty of the campus was decisive.

^{2000. Javier de Navascués and Viviana at the graduation of the 38th graduating class of the Liberal Arts program.}

Q. And how did you come to work here?

I returned to the University three years later, in 1999, to pursue a Master's Degree in Liberal Arts. I was a teacher in several institutions in Cordoba. I went to do so because, previously, I had been summoned by the Argentinean Ministry of Education and Culture to carry out an educational reform that was imposed throughout the province, and that staff responsibility made me eager to continue studying and to continue training.

The following year, on May 15, 2000, I began to work in the historical file of don Gonzalo Redondo. I directed the cataloguing and digitization of the donated funds, and there I created strong bonds with Marian Zabala, Silvia Fernández de Arcaya and the sisters Salomé and Ester Eslava. It was the first time in my life that I shared so many hours with a group of people.

Q. How did you get started in the Senior Program?

The Program was born in the 2003-04 academic year. I joined two years later, in 2005-06, and I have completed 20 consecutive editions.

It was an initiative of the Office of the Vice President of Students, as a response to a public that was asking for lifelong Education programs of study . We were inspired by the Delors report , also known as " Education contains a treasure", which stated that Education must continue throughout life. If there is life, one must continue to be educated, and what we have rescued from this is the motto of continuing to grow.

^{2006. Opening of the Senior Program for the 2005-06 academic year}

Q. What characterizes the Senior Program?

The people who are part of it. The seal of identity to continue growing. We are not determined by what we have known before. I remember a student of the Program, who has already passed away, who used to say: "I hope my eagerness to know ends two minutes after I have passed away". And that is what the students of the Program are: a group with an avid desire to know, to continue learning, to incorporate knowledge in all areas. Although they have already fulfilled their professional role, they seek in this University the rigor of scientific knowledge and cultural enrichment, as well as social ties.

Q. What have you liked the most during these years and what have you liked the least?

What has pleased me most have been the human relationships that I have been able to establish at the University. Both with the professors and with the participants.

In the case of the participants, more than 80 percent have enrolled consecutively in the Program. There are even those who have the same seniority as me. Among these people are José Luis Aiciondo, Elisa Viscarret, Alicia Redel, Adriano Castori, Tere Torres, who are still attending and have been enrolled in the Senior Program for 20 years.

And in the case of the professors, the management and administrative and service staff of the University, I have maintained a very good relationship with all of them. Apart from the professors who collaborate in the subjects, I would like to mention Teresa Domingo, who has paved the way for all the projects of the Program; María Iraburu, Tomás Gómez Acebo and Rosalía Baena, who have been my direct bosses, and with whom I have had a very pleasant relationship and, in some way, have helped me to promote my professional development . And of course with Iris Torres, Marta Revuelta, Beatriz Fernández de Gaceo, among others, with whom I have shared many years of work.

I have never focused on negative events, I have overlooked them and nothing unpleasant has remained in my report . Perhaps the one that I liked the least and that, due to its characteristics, I will never forget, was the attack that the University suffered in 2008.

^{2010. Viviana, María Iraburu and Jaime García del Barrio during the opening of the Senior Program for the 2009-10 academic year.}

Q. Is there any moment that you remember in a special way?

I would like to point out that, over the years, we have kept the May visit and floral offering at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love on campus with all the participants. This will always be memorable for me.

And also the trips, especially one we made to the Holy Land in 2013. We had developed a cross-cutting topic throughout the course, graduate "Dialogue between the great religions", where we had the support of Professor Ricardo Rovira, who had taught us about the Jewish religion. From that trip I remember with special affection how we sailed on Lake Tiberias to the sound of the Navarrese "jotas".

Q. What will you miss most about college?

The people, the beauty of the campus, the silence of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love, the figure of the Founder in the courtyard of Central, Faustino, my office (which is like my second home).

I think I am going to miss everything. I am very used to this house, which has made me feel that I am part of an identity, which is the University of Navarra.

_{2025. Closing of the Senior Program for the 2024-25 academic year and farewell to Viviana Alegre.}

Q. Would you like to enroll as a Senior Program student?

I would love to enroll in the Senior Program, but I have been living in Zaragoza for 10 years. Maybe I will try to take it online.