Dear students, colleagues, professors, employees of the University of Rijeka,
At the beginning of the new academic year, I extend a warm greeting to all members of our university community, hoping that this year will be equally successful for us all and that our work and life at the University will be filled with satisfaction.
I extend a special welcome to our students who are just starting their studies at the University of Rijeka, emphasizing that the University will be your home where you will always find understanding and support, where no one is excluded or forgotten, and where we understand that fears and mistakes are an integral part of every successful endeavour. We will take care of your future to the best of our knowledge, making sure that each of you finds a special path and ways to achieve your goals. Our goal is to teach, but also to learn from you, because we don’t just want you to be excellent experts one day but above all, curious, critical, and humane individuals. We see all of you, our students, exclusively as future benefactors of society and we are aware that this goal requires us to join forces.
We kick off this academic year accompanied by the multiplying effect of numerous crises that are not being resolved with the expected speed but, on the contrary, are becoming normal. The state of continuous challenges becomes our ‘new normal’. The deepening of economic and social inequality and the growing uncertainty of a highly technological future creates frightened, frustrated, and angry people who, in their powerlessness, turn against science, rationality, and the need to ensure dignity for every human being. For them, the values of truth and human rights are often only abstract concepts that do not affect the quality of their daily lives and are referred to by some distant elites. Never more than in this time of crisis, the university community must be a centre of rationality and a beacon of values. The people of universities need to go outside their walls, trying to understand concrete social threats and look for solutions that will allow people to be less afraid – every day.
The new better world rests on the acceptance that education and research are the key, but also that there is no alternative to involving everyone in the search for solutions. Different opinions are not an obstacle but an opportunity. Not wanting to hear someone with whom I disagree won’t change anyone’s opinion; it will only deepen and sharpen it. Social polarizations are not the result of different opinions, but the reluctance to hear different opinions. This is the very reason we need the wisdom that only the world of critical thinking and science can bring. We are privileged to be in a unique space of autonomy and freedom that gives us strength and room for action. There is no justification for withdrawal.
At the beginning of this academic year, I extend a message of encouragement and incentive. There is nothing at the University of Rijeka that can restrain us from concretely refining our curiosity, scientific humility, and intellectual responsibility. With each day, our results and international recognition make us even more ready for greater strides.
Semper magis
Snježana Prijić Samaržija