(photo source)
The status that I have been awarded here today, I can only humbly accept on behalf of the people of this country, not as individuals. How can a person like Ernesto Guevara get an honorary doctorate from the School of Education where his entire education has come through guerrilla camps, bitter arguments and conflicts? I believe my education cannot be turned into caps and gowns. That is why I have come before you today in military uniform in honor of our army. On the auspicious occasion of receiving this title, I would also like to present our Army with full glory. I once promised the students on campus that I would share my thoughts on the role of the university. Thousands of events and work pressure so many days I could not keep that word. Today, I will keep that promise.
What should be the main role of the university in this new Cuba? I would say it is time to build the university in a different style in Venture. The doors of this university should be opened for blacks, mixed castes, workers and farmers. The university will be for the masses. Remember, this university is not the ancestral property of anyone, it is the property of the Cuban people. Victory will only belong to the people. People now know that they are irresistible. Today they are staring at it with hope, the university has to open the mask of aristocracy and greet them with a smile. Either open the door of the university to your public, or just open the door; The people will build the university as their own.
If I have to give some advice as a representative of the people and the revolutionary army and of course as your professor, I would say that in order to reach the people, you have to mingle with the people. You need to know what people want, what they need, how they are, what they are thinking. Look at the statistics of this university, how many workers, farmers, people who have been working for eight hours a day have been able to set foot here. Then ask yourself if the Cuban regime reflects the will of the people. Now think a little, what is the government doing with this university that is turning the will of the people into its work? Unfortunately, the government, which represents the entire Cuban people, has little connection with the university. The wishes, hopes and aspirations of the common people of the country cannot reach here freely.