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Josep Antoni Rom takes office as the new rector of the URL

September 30, 2022

Josep Maria Garrell, the outgoing rector, bid farewell to more than 300 people with heartfelt thanks to all the people and institutions that have supported him during his 10-year term of office

The ceremony for the handover of the position of rector of the URL took place at noon this afternoon in the Cardinal Narcís Jubany Auditorium of the Blanquerna-URL School of Psychology, Education Sciences and Sport. During the ceremony, Josep Antoni Rom (who was already appointed last June by the URL Board of Trustees) was sworn in as the new rector of the URL and replaces Josep Maria Garrell, who held the position since 2012.

The event was attended by more than 300 people, including representatives of the university's governing bodies, former presidents J.J. Brugera and J. Martinez-Rovira, and former rectors M. Gassiot and E. Giménez-Salinas. There were also countless Catalan and Spanish rectors and former rectors in attendance, in addition to most of the former ministers of the Generalitat with responsibilities for universities and research, the secretary general of the Conference of Spanish University Rectors (CRUE), María Teresa Lozano, and the deputy vice-president of CRUE, José María Sanz; in addition to politicians, representatives of the main institutions and associations related to the URL, among other representatives of civil society.

The event was opened by the President of the Board of Trustees of the URL, Antoni Millet Abbad. Following this, Josep Antoni Rom's appointment as the new rector of the URL was officially read out by the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the URL, Salvador Pié.

Josep Maria Garrell dedicated his first words to congratulate the new rector and his team: "Those who know me, and here today there are mostly people who know me well or very well, know—you know—that I am a team player, and—therefore—I believe that success comes collectively. I do not wish to shirk any kind of responsibility, but the evolution that our University has undergone in recent years is the result of the work and effort of many people, including the rector's team and, logically, also the Rector".

The rector, who has held the post of rector for the last ten years, then "looked back" and stated that "institutionally speaking, the collective balance of the evolution of our Ramon Llull University, as a federal university that brings together several souls, is good to very good".

The second part of his speech was focused on thanking "the many people and the many institutions" with whom he has shared his journey. Garrell mentioned the spirit of collaboration and dialogue with the political parties, with the various parliamentary forces and with the public administrations. Garrell singled out in particular the members of the Catalan Government's Department of Research and Universities, the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, and the members of the Catalan Parliament: "When I see how far we have come, I cannot help but think of how much remains to be done, such as the much-needed update of the Catalan Universities Act. Or a new organic legal system in the State that respects the diversity of universities, and that looks towards Europe". He also called on the Vives Network, the Deusto and Comillas universities with which the URL maintains the Campus of International Excellence (CEI) project, the CRUE and the USA, Banco Santander and "la Caixa", the ETHOS Ramon Llull Chair, Càritas, Mans Unides and UNESCO.

Garrell then "turned his gaze inwards to the URL" to focus his thanks on "this house where I have worked for the last 30 years". He began by talking about La Salle and the former rector Esther Giménez-Salinas; he went on to mention the URL Board of Trustees, Cardinal Omella, and the presidents L. Rodés, J.J. Brugera, J. Martínez-Rovira and A. Millet. He also highlighted the general directors of the URL institutions, the deans of the centers and the representatives of the research and teaching staff, the administration and service staff and the students: "I want to say a special word for our students, the first and last raison d'être of any university. The students, represented through the Student Council, and especially through its Standing Committee, have always been part of the project. People, and also institutions, are truly measured in difficult times. We have experienced tough times with the Standing Committee of the Student Council, and they have always, always had an exceptional institutional vision. And you are a sample of the professionals that we want to emerge from our classrooms and who will undoubtedly contribute to building a better world".

Garrell closed his speech by alluding to the Rectorate and the people who comprise it and have helped him over the years: "From this work I will miss nothing more than the learning opportunities it has given me, and the people I have met, especially the people. The friends I have made over the years and who, unfortunately, I will not be able to see so often from now on".

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Following this, Josep Antoni Rom began his speech by thanking Garrell for his persistent, loyal and tireless work: "Josep Maria Garrell is a man of many qualities who has worked for over ten years to drive this project forward. And I can't imagine it could be done any better. In this decade our rector has covered more miles, knocked on more doors and presented our university to more groups and institutions than any minister in any government. (…) We may be somewhat small, but the rector has made us very visible, locally, statewide and internationally. He has done work of a colossal magnitude, and we don't need the distance of time to value it, it is evidence of our everyday life".

Rom focused his speech on the mission of the URL. As a professor of advertising and marketing, he has drawn on the University's logo, which he himself designed more than 30 years ago, to express that the URL tree connects the earthly with the spiritual, the more tangible with the intangible, matter with knowledge: "On a day like today, it still seems to me to be a great metaphor for what we are and what we aspire to be as an academic community. Our symbol evokes our federation, a group of institutions, like the branches of the tree, with deeply embedded roots and a differentiated model of a not-for-profit university, at the service of society. All the branches form the tree, they vary in size, but they all have a role that complements us". In this sense, the new rector added: "We have a legacy, but also the responsibility to keep it alive and active. Like the tree, we must regenerate and adapt in order for new branches to grow. The world is changing".

The new rector gave an optimistic speech on the challenges facing the URL based on three axes: cohesion, values and innovation: "I am only going to announce today that the challenges mentioned are so great that we will only be able to face them through cohesion, through our ability to take advantage of each other's initiatives and to sense new opportunities. We will also have to face them with creativity, which is a skill based on the ability to make connections, unexpected connections that arise from open, free and uninhibited mindsets. The greatest challenge of the upcoming years is to take advantage of the diversity and complexity of our organization in order to be disruptive, so that the URL model continues to be an alternative model, an organization that is true to the Catalan and Spanish university system, that regards itself and the world as an organization that is young in spirit, mature in the experience of these three decades and brazen in its attitude".

In conclusion, Rom expressed his gratitude to Blanquerna and Salvador Pié for proposing this new challenge to him; to President Millet for his enthusiasm and energy; to all the presidents and general managers of the institutions for supporting him; and, above all, to the rector team.

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The event was also attended by Esther Morales, Secretary General of the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia, who, on behalf of the Minister Gemma Geis, thanked Rector Garrell for "the extraordinary work he has done" over the ten years of his mandate, and for consolidating the growth of the URL and strengthening relations with the entire university system: "To Rector Garrell I want to acknowledge the vocation of public service that he has shown throughout his mandate and his commitment to the URL but also to the entire Catalan system. Thank you very much for your impeccable, constructive approach, always proposing viable solutions and consensus. We want to explicitly acknowledge the contribution of Rector Garrell to Catalonia's university system".

Morales also thanked the new rector for his commitment to the URL and the university system and wished him every success. Morales underlined that Josep Rom, throughout his career, "has always worked for the benefit of the entire system, not just the URL, in a spirit of collaboration, in line with this university's best tradition". Morales highlighted that "now is the time to continue strengthening the University from this consensus collaboration in order to strengthen Ramon Llull University even further".

Lastly, President Millet closed the ceremony and highlighted the value of Rector Garrell's legacy. "We bid farewell to a rector with an intense, long-standing and profound knowledge of our university and, by extension, of the Catalan, Spanish and European university systems. The legacy left by Rector Garrell is wide-ranging and diverse. It is difficult to summarize in a speech of this kind, but it is necessary to refer to it briefly to understand that his time as rector marks a turning point".

His leadership, explained Millet, "has enabled the URL's voice to be heard with the same respect and interest that he has shown to the various interlocutors. He has made it a de facto valid interlocutor of the private non-profit universities that collaborate with the public university function. And he has also been able to perform this work outside the borders of the state where he has been a member of the board of the US for the last three and a half years.

The president then dedicated a few words to the new rector and highlighted his long-standing career at URL, where he has held important positions of responsibility in both management and academia: "The new rector starts his term of office with the same people who have been with him these last two years of the previous rectorate, with a few changes in the areas of responsibility and with a new addition to the Vice-Rectorate for Academic Organization and Quality. In other words, there is continuity and change at the same time. The governing bodies are strong and cohesive and have chosen him by unanimous decision. I am convinced that we will have a new rector who will know how to continue what has been done up to now and will know how to forge new paths for our university. And always true to the mandate of our founders, adapting to the new times. Josep Antoni Rom will continue to form a team with Anna Berga Timoneda, Jordi Teixidó i Closa and Carlo Maria Gallucci Calabrese; and will bring in Elisabet Golobardes Ribé as a new member of the team. This new Rector Team was approved on Wednesday September 27th by the URL Board of Trustees.

Biographical profile of Josep Antoni Rom

Born in Barcelona (1963). He holds a degree in Contemporary History from the UB (1987), a PhD in Advertising and Public Relations from the URL (2004) and is a full professor at the URL. In 1994 he joined Blanquerna-URL, where he was co-founder of the Blanquerna-URL School of Communication and International Relations (FCRI), vice-dean of Technology and Equipment (1998-2016) and director of the Degree in Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing (2016-2020). He has published books and scientific articles on advertising, marketing, creativity and design. He is a member of several scientific committees of journals and congresses, and is the principal researcher of the Research Group on Strategy and Creativity in Advertising and Public Relations (GRECPRP). In 2020 he was appointed vice-rector for research and innovation at URL.

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