Speech by His Magnificence Rector of Kozminski University at the inauguration of the academic year 2021/2022

06.10.2021

Full video of the speech is available HERE.

Support, cooperation, trust, responsibility - in the speech inaugurating the academic year 2021/2022 the Rector of our University, Prof. Grzegorz Mazurek, refers to the key values and talks about the aspirations and challenges that the University sets for itself.

Opening the new academic year 2021/2022, Rector Prof. Grzegorz Mazurek could not help but refer to the past months, including the difficult situation related to the pandemic that the whole world has been facing for over a year.

From my perspective, it was a year not so much of digitalization or of the pandemic, but a year of key values in life - support, help, cooperation, trust, responsibility. It was a year of gaining trust in the university. We were together, despite the pandemic isolation. Together in the sense of a community of community. Digital technologies gave us oxygen to breathe in the murky waters of the pandemic. - Prof. Mazurek said.

Speaking about the University's mission and its commitment to the socio-economic environment, the Rector listed

three megatrends influencing contemporary education and science: the perspective of relations with the environment, the perspective of digital transformation and the perspective of inclusive, responsible, sustainable development.

He assured how important it is for the university to act in each of these areas and gave examples of specific successes it has achieved - from close programmatic cooperation with business, through partnerships with world-class universities, to accreditations and international rankings, in which it is represented like no other Polish university.

Addressing the students, the Rector encouraged them to make good use of their study time, take advantage of international exchange opportunities, make valuable lifelong contacts, and develop creativity and critical thinking:

We need to teach you how to unlearn, we need to teach you how to look for answers rather than what the answer looks like, we need to teach you how to doubt, question and look at information critically. We must convince you that learning is a lifestyle. If you are willing to do that, Kozminski will be your development partner for life.

Full video of the speech is available HERE.

Full speech in text available HERE.

Broadcast of the entire 2021/2022 academic year inauguration ceremony HERE

See also