The opening programme includes:
- 9:30 am the Eucharistic Celebration, presided over by Fr Stefano Martoglio, Vicar of the Rector Major and UPS Grand Chancellor, at the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Parish Church, adjacent to the university campus.
- at 11:00, the Academic Act, in the Paul VI hall, the main hall of the university, with the introduction of the Rector Magnificus, Fr Andrea Bozzolo and, later, the introduction by Prof. Isabella Guanzini, theologian and philosopher, professor of Fundamental Theology at the Catholic University of Linz, in Austria.
As per tradition, the opening morning will then continue with the awarding of deserving students and will end with the proclamation of the opening of the 2024/2025 academic year by the UPS Grand Chancellor.
In presenting the chosen theme for the opening and as a common thread throughout the new year, the Rector Magnificus of the UPS observed: "This path is a great metaphor for life, with its stages and its roughness, its goals and its milestones, surprising turns and unpredictable setbacks. Life is a journey because it is continuous change, openness to the future, the need to make decisions about the direction in which to go".
"Especially in the years of youth, life becomes a promising path to be undertaken with determination, but also as a difficult adventure exposed to the risk of failure and lack of success. That is why it is not possible to face the journey of life without a compass that points in the right and reliable direction. This compass is hope.”
For this reason, the Rector Magnificus of the UPS invites us to reflect on the fact that "Hope generates energy, transforms reality, gives rise to communion in commitment to change. In the educational field, it supports confidence in the growth of children and young people, nurtures the courage to face life, helps not to give in to difficulties, indicates the great goal for which we exist".
