A few weeks ago, I attended the commencement ceremony of the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus. One figure was omnipresent throughout the ceremony: the federally appointed Fiscal Control Board, whose enabling federal law, PROMESA, recently marked its 10th anniversary.
Studies show that reading proficiently by the end of third grade is linked to students’ future academic success.
More than 10 months after an agreement expired, the UPR Molecular Center is at risk of halting infrastructure improvements and essential purchases tied to the research of 42 scientists and 225 students.
The university has not updated its fiscal plan since 2021. After missing this year’s March 24 deadline, it received an extension from the FOMB, but the May 1 final approval date remains unchanged.
The U.S. Department of Education’s demands under the Trump administration — struck down a month ago by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire — led to the elimination of an inclusion committee and the suspension of a census of Afro-descendant students at the University of Puerto Rico.
As Homeland Security Investigations in Puerto Rico does not rule out immigration enforcement operations at universities, professors, students and staff still do not know how to respond if agents intervene on campus.
Amid face-offs, grimaces, accusations of censorship, a push to remove the university’s president, and a maze of parliamentary maneuvering and procedural technicalities, the latest meeting of the University of Puerto Rico system’s Governing Board failed to meet its responsibilities. It did not carry out, with seriousness, respect and responsibility, the public role entrusted to it.
In addition to eliminating inclusive restrooms at the Río Piedras campus, the university system voided guarantees of access and nondiscrimination for transgender students and revised its Chosen Name Protocol, because of Trump administration measures targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
