FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 96 - ENGLISH

EDUCATION AND COEXISTENCE 33 UPV SUMMER COURSE UNIVERSITIES FACING VIOLENCE: REMEMBRANCE, SELF-CRITICISM AND THE DEFENCE OF PLURALISM The summer course organised by the University of the Basque Country, the Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism and the Victims of Terrorism Foundation brought together experts, academics and witnesses of a period marked by ETA’s coercion in San Sebastián. Three UPV/ EHU rectors reflected on the institution’s response to terrorism and the challenges intolerance and polarisation pose on campuses today. ` Left to right: Joxerramon Bengoetxea, Eva Ferreira and Pello Salaburu There was a time when teaching in the Basque Country required more than an academic vocation. Lecturers under po- lice protection, teachers forced to leave their homeland and students familiar with an atmosphere of intimidation were part of the reality ETA imposed for deca- des, including within universities. That experience and its consequences were central to much of the discussion at the summer course “Violence Against Universities” , organised by the Univer- sity of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), the Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism and the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, held on 3 and 4 September at Miramar Palace in San Sebastián. The meeting addressed different forms of political violence and intolerance su- ffered by academic institutions in Europe and Spain. Its main focus, however, was the Basque case, where terrorist pressure shaped university life for years and tested essential values such as freedom, plura- lism and coexistence. At the opening, the President of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Juan Benito Valenciano , stressed education’s role in building a society committed to democratic values and recognition of victims. “Education must play a key role in building a society that rejects violence, is founded on civic and democratic values, and acknowledges without any ambiguity the pain of vic- tims of terrorism.” Valenciano also highlighted the value of dialogue between institutions, acade- mics, teachers and victims as a means of strengthening a more informed, just and humane society.