{"id":10763,"date":"2024-12-05T21:48:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T20:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/2024\/12\/05\/programa-mayores-nos-une-como-institucion\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:19:07","slug":"programa-mayores-nos-une-como-institucion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/2024\/12\/05\/programa-mayores-nos-une-como-institucion\/","title":{"rendered":"Garc\u00eda: \u201cThe Program for Older Adults unites us as an institution and makes us feel like ourselves.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of La Laguna's University Studies Program for Adults and Seniors has celebrated its 25th anniversary with a ceremony held today, Thursday, December 5th, in the Paraninfo (Great Hall), presided over by the Rector, Francisco Garc\u00eda. "This program unites us as an institution and helps us feel like ourselves at a time when, as a university, we need to come together.".<\/p>\n

Image gallery<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This training program was implemented in the 1999-2000 academic year with the objective\u00a0 <\/span>It aims to promote the participation of older adults in university education, providing tools and spaces that enhance their quality of life and personal development. It fosters lifelong learning and strengthens interpersonal relationships, thus contributing to overall well-being. It is currently directed by Inmaculada Fern\u00e1ndez<\/span><\/a>, The event also featured a lecture by Professor Roberto Souto and a musical performance by Jos\u00e9 Luis Vera Batista, accompanied on piano by Javier Jon\u00e1s. The program's founder, Jos\u00e9 Arnay, was honored during the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"El<\/a>

The rector and the vice-rector at the presentation.<\/p><\/div>\n

During the inauguration, the rector emphasized that this program demonstrates the university's openness to all groups and values the concept of "lifelong learning," thanks to which the traditional division of human existence into three ages is becoming increasingly blurred. "When we talk about university values, we think of students like yourselves: that idea of '\u201cDare to know<\/i>\u201dFrom Kant, from the search for freedom of thought that Jos\u00e9 Luis Sampedro defended, which goes beyond freedom of expression.\u201d He recalled that he himself had the opportunity to teach Economics in that program: \u201cThey were the best students I\u2019ve ever had, passionate, with many questions and eager to debate.\u201d.<\/p>\n

As an example of the cohesion he referred to, the rector noted the presence in the audience of N\u00e9lida Rancel, Emilia Carmona, and Juan Albino M\u00e9ndez, who in the past served as vice-rector and vice-rector in charge of the area of Culture and University Extension, which includes the educational program being celebrated. He mentioned that every anniversary is an opportunity to look back but also to project into the future and set new challenges. One of these is to avoid falling into \u201cthe utilitarian drift of society\u201d and to \u201cresist the attempt at demolition that the public university is currently experiencing.\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Deputy Minister of Universities and Research of the Canary Islands Government, Ciro Guti\u00e9rrez, stated that the University Studies Program for Adults and Seniors is a milestone in the history of education in the Canary Islands, demonstrating that there are no age limits to learning. He explained that the regional government is committed to initiatives like this one, \u201cwhich foster the creation of an open and fair society in which everyone finds opportunities to grow and contribute to the common good\u201d through an \u201cinclusive and transformative\u201d educational approach.<\/p>\n

The Vice-Rector for Culture and University Extension, Isabel Le\u00f3n, reflected that the program being celebrated represents a commitment to \u201cthe human and the humanistic\u201d in a world marked by immediacy, loneliness, and dehumanization. \u201cWe want to be a university of excellence with a soul, offering adults a space for interaction, professional development, exploring their abilities, and enriching their inner world.\u201d She also outlined the program's future challenges: strengthening intergenerational ties by fostering spaces for interaction among students of different ages; and consolidating the program's students' participation in university life to integrate them into the community.<\/p>\n

For her part, Yolanda Baumgartner, the Island Director of Social Action for the Tenerife Island Council, praised the University of La Laguna's program for senior citizens and highlighted the ongoing collaboration between the island council and the academic institution. She also mentioned the recent launch of the Tenerife Senior Citizens Plan, the result of a participatory process involving more than 1,600 people in 130 meetings across the island.<\/p>\n

\"Jos\u00e9<\/a>

Jos\u00e9 Arnay receiving his tribute.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tribute to Jos\u00e9 Arnay<\/b><\/p>\n

The former director of the program for senior citizens, who held it from its inception for 23 years until his recent retirement, took to the stage to receive a plaque from the university as a trophy for his dedication to the project. Visibly moved, he addressed the audience, recalling four moments that summarized his time leading this educational initiative.<\/p>\n

The first was a meeting in 1997 at the Vice-Rectorate for University Extension, where the then Vice-Rector, Eduardo Camacho, asked for a volunteer to explore the idea of creating a training program for older adults and to present a project proposal. Arnay raised his hand, and that's how his involvement with the program began. The second moment was the first day of class, in October 1999, with a makeshift classroom in the Professor Agust\u00edn Ar\u00e9valo Tower and a willing group of students between 60 and 80 years old.<\/p>\n

The third milestone was the 2013 national meeting of programs for seniors held in Puerto de la Cruz, hosted by the University of La Laguna, where Arnay successfully lobbied for the creation of a committee to promote a national association that would provide legal support for these educational initiatives. And the fourth milestone was today's ceremony itself, the culmination of work that has taught her that "educational projects are developed by doing them day by day.".<\/p>\n

Arnay concluded with three key points about the Studies for Adults and Older Adults program: First, except for the disruption caused by Covid-19, it has operated continuously despite the challenges. Second, it has always been a serious and rigorous academic endeavor: \u201cIt has never been a pastime or a hobby.\u201d Third, these 25 years have made it a pioneering project in the fight against ageism.<\/p>\n

\"Roberto<\/a>

Roberto Souto.<\/p><\/div>\n

The invited lecture, given by Roberto Souto, was a defense of those areas of knowledge sometimes considered trivial from a utilitarian perspective, but which encompass much of what makes people human and which are pursued for no other purpose than study itself, or, as they say, "for the love of it," which was precisely the title of the presentation. With quotes from John Adams, Sergio del Molino, Jos\u00e9 Mujica, and Nuccio Ordine, the speaker defended this type of education which, far from being futile, defines individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a special program because, unlike ordinary undergraduate and graduate degrees, it is free from the burden, pressure, and demands that characterize formal education. It is the paradigm of a program that transcends any utilitarian perspective; it is pursued for the love of learning, which is the most genuine way to learn.\u201d Therefore, in his closing remarks, \u201calthough these programs are not considered in university rankings, they are undoubtedly a mark of quality.\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

El programa de Estudios Universitarios para Personas Adultas y Mayores de la Universidad de La Laguna ha cumplido sus primeros…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":10768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,59,10,2165],"tags":[2166,1146,2420,4444,4445,4446],"class_list":["post-10763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destacado","category-institucion","category-portada-ull","category-universidad-para-mayores-noticias","tag-eupam","tag-formacion-a-lo-largo-de-la-vida","tag-inmaculada-fernandez","tag-jose-arnay","tag-programa-de-mayores","tag-roberto-souto"],"acf":[],"primary_category":null,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/25-Aniv-Univ-Mayores-10-300x202.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10763"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10767,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10763\/revisions\/10767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}