“The University is Roma too!” brings together the testimonies of Roma students and professors
On 9 April at 10.00 a.m., the Aula Magna of the Historic Building will host the event “The University is Roma too!”, co-organized by the CampusRom University Roma Network and the University of Barcelona, to mark International Roma Day. The session, open to the general public upon prior registration, will feature talks by Roma individuals with some connection to the university. It is estimated that there are currently around 150 Roma people enrolled in the Catalan university system. This figure indicates that this population remains significantly underrepresented in higher education and highlights a significant social and educational gap.
On 9 April at 10.00 a.m., the Aula Magna of the Historic Building will host the event “The University is Roma too!”, co-organized by the CampusRom University Roma Network and the University of Barcelona, to mark International Roma Day. The session, open to the general public upon prior registration, will feature talks by Roma individuals with some connection to the university. It is estimated that there are currently around 150 Roma people enrolled in the Catalan university system. This figure indicates that this population remains significantly underrepresented in higher education and highlights a significant social and educational gap.
In fact, it is estimated that the Roma population in Catalonia stands at around 65,000, and according to some sources the figure is between 80,000 and 90,000. Thus, bearing in mind that the most commonly cited estimates indicate that only between 1% and 2.6% of the Roma population goes on to university, only around 1,500 Roma people hold a university degree in Catalonia.
The event, organized with the support of the UB’s Office of the Vice-Rector for Equality, Inclusion and Gender, aims to highlight the presence of the Roma community at the University and to reflect on the role of academia in combating discrimination against this group. The event will feature talks on the history of the Roma people followed by the round-table discussion “Roma students at university”.
At the same time, from 7 to 17 April, the Historic Building will host the photography exhibition “RomReferents: the university is Roma too”, a collection of portraits of Roma university students that highlights their academic achievements, as well as the contribution of the Roma community to the university environment.