Dear students, dear colleagues, dear women and men of the University of Bergamo,

a new conflict, a war, once more comes to shake our consciences, our days, the meaning of our work, our relationships. This is a war in the heart of Europe and a demanding passage towards new balances for coexistence and life on the planet.

The peace project that is at the origin of the constitution of Europe is, once again, questioned and, at the same time, urged for recovery and development. The statute and the orientation of our knowledge, the educational compact between generations on which the University rests, are deeply questioned as well.

It is urgent to intervene and act so that the attack stops, destruction and deaths end, the spaces for negotiations and respect for human rights, freedom and life reopen.

It is necessary to offer support and perspectives to those who are tried by war, to refugees. It is necessary to offer hospitality to individuals and families and - as far as we are concerned directly - to students first, and to Ukrainian academics and researchers, affected by conflicts and wars.

The University will engage in first person and allocate resources for this, together with a territory in which public administrations and Caritas are working in concert for concrete intervention plans.

For sure, the re-explosion of war questions the university as the place in which research develops, questions the meaning and the direction it takes, the responsibility of knowledge and the relation to power of what we teach and investigate. It questions research implications and relapses, our ability to build and not destroy, to cultivate and safeguard life and not to exercise blind and irresponsible domination.

For all these reasons, it will be important to disseminate and support opportunities for in-depth study, reflection and discussion between academics and students, on the themes of war, conflict, peace, rights, nonviolence, cooperation, power.

The Network of Universities for Peace promoted by CRUI makes available documents, materials, experiences, bibliographies for this work on its website. Several of our colleagues in recent days have dedicated or initiated moments of in-depth study within their teaching activity.

The student community, which hosts a significant presence of young Ukrainian students and students from various countries affected by the conflict, must be supported in its effort to examine the situation, as well as in offering care, in listening, in being close to those who suffer directly or indirectly from war and its consequences. We will promote common initiatives of encounter, discussion, and solidarity.

The years spent at university are years of investigation and choices - personal, professional, choices taken as citizens engaged in understanding and acting in the dynamics and conflicts of one’s time. These must be years in which it is possible to experience relationships, coexistence, confrontation, generative conflict, cooperative dialogue, open and ethically informed scientific research. The education process should be able to deconstruct the logic of the enemy, to build new forms of confrontation, hospitality and responsible care of the world and generational rights.

War generates war. The university, on the contrary, is the place that generates peace:  the place where young people and adults meet, work for peace, respect life, care for human rights and international law, relaunching politics and dialogue between cultures, cooperation in research and training, attention to justice, to the common good, to equity.

We embrace the large group of Ukrainian students who live among us, their families in Italy and in their homeland, as well as those in our community who come from or are linked to realities of war and conflict.

We are close to all, women, and men, engaged in research, intellectual work and education who are committed to building peace and coexistence, people who are determined today to oppose war and who reject the idea of designing an enemy.  We are even closer to those who are in the position to expose themselves personally, to take risks and pay in person to support and practice their convictions.

Let us feel close to one another, responsible, and let us be attentive. Universities must be the home of steady nerves, plural thought, hope and encounter.

A warm greeting to each and every one of you.

Rector
Prof. Sergio Cavalieri

Prof. Ivo Lizzola
Network of Universities for Peace