The University of Navarra has awarded the Silver Medal to 113 professionals in recognition of their 25 years of service work at the academic center; nine of them belong to IESE and received this award at an event held in December at the Barcelona campus.

submission Prior to the medal presentation, a Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated at chapel of Amigos Building. The event took place in the Museum Theater and was presided over by María Iraburu. The president had words of gratitude for the awardees and their families, and encouraged them to feel protagonists "in the exciting task of projecting the University of Navarra in the coming years, having as a horizon the service to society to which it has been committed since its beginnings".

María Iraburu recalled the second Chancellor of the University, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of his death and the 10th anniversary of his beatification, and mentioned the three qualities that, according to him, permeate the life of this university: love of freedom, respect for the dignity of each person and the eagerness for creative cooperation. "Appreciation for the dignity of each person and for his or her freedom also marks the relationship between colleagues and companions at work, and creates the necessary space for that "eagerness for creative cooperation" to flourish in a natural way, which is based on the conviction that we all need each other and that together we go much further," he emphasized.

Maria Iraburu referred to the impact that people can have on the lives of others when our work, linked to that of others, is animated by a sincere desire to serve. "In a world with many obscurities and with confusing lights that sometimes lead nowhere, we share the challenge to illuminate so many areas of social life that need serene reflection, creative proposals, convincing examples, a hope that embraces all our ordinary concerns but that, ultimately, is born of a transcendent vision of human life and of our work in the world," she said.

Gratitude, humility and light for future generations

Ruth Gutiérrez, professor at School of Communication, spoke on behalf of the medalists. Gratitude and humility, two virtues highlighted by Chesterton in St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of the students and the university, were the focus of her speech. Ruth Gutierrez had words of gratitude for family and friends, for colleagues and classmates at work, and for the university. "We thank the University of Navarra, which is not an abstract "entity" but a magnificent academic community, for its incorrigible dynamism, its surprising capacity for improvement, and for always being tenaciously oriented towards the dignification of people. The fact that it has placed its full trust in us to carry out such a noble work shows its true character," he said.

Gutiérrez urged the awardees to continue to be involved "in the fast-paced mission statement of the university" and to renew their enthusiasm to serve, "as if it were that first day when each one of us arrived with a very particular suitcase to this House," he said. "The founder of the University of Navarra and all those who preceded us illuminated with their example and truth the path we have traveled. Now it is up to us, dear colleagues, to continue illuminating in the midst of the storm those who come behind us."