2022 marked the tenth year of collaboration between the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) and Centro San Juan Diego. Representatives from the University, including its rector, Dr. Emilio José Baños Ardavín, came to Denver to celebrate this occasion and recognize the University’s most recent graduates during a ceremony on October 28.
“We need lay people who are formed well, animated by a clear and sincere faith, whose lives have been touched by a personal and merciful encounter with the love of Jesus Christ. We need lay people who take risks, who soil their hands, who are not afraid of making mistakes, who move forward,” said Dr. Baños, quoting Pope Francis during his address to the graduates.
This year’s celebration recognized nine accomplished women, five of whom graduated with a bachelor’s degree and another four with a master’s. The university also awarded three additional students with a Cruz Forjada award, given to active bachelor’s students with the highest GPA in their bachelor’s programs, and two Dr. Abelardo Sánchez Gutiérrez awards, a University-wide award given to the overall highest performing students in their respective academic programs.
Since 2012, Centro San Juan Diego and UPAEP, a private, Catholic university in Puebla, Mexico, have collaborated in offering higher education opportunities that may not be available or within reach otherwise. Through this partnership, and through the study, hard work, and dedication of the students, UPAEP and Centro San Juan Diego can carry out a shared mission to form lay leaders who are not afraid to move forward, leaders who advance their education to break down the barriers to daily living that prevent a more complete integration into the life of both the Church and greater society.
Over the past ten years, UPAEP has worked to increase the number and variety of programs available to Centro San Juan Diego’s students. In January, the university announced two new bachelor’s programs in Family Sciences, Ciencias de la Familia, and Digital Marketing, Mercadotecnica, designed to equip students with necessary skills and perspectives to address pressing issues in the Church, society, and economy.
This, says Antonio Llergo, general secretary of UPAEP, is the goal for the next 10 years; to focus not only on creating opportunities for the Hispanic community in Colorado and beyond, but to foster a greater sense of catholicity, where community members can “truly insert themselves into the life of the Church and society to transform it, to collaborate with others for the well-being of all.”
“If we can achieve that,” says Llergo, “I think we are achieving our shared mission, not only by awarding academic degrees that will help [students] professionally, but in helping them develop a worldview that transcends and transforms our culture from a culture of death to a culture of life.”
