Final-year undergraduate and master’s degree students graduated during a ceremony held in the Aula Magna on the Barcelona Campus, a memorable occasion presided over by the dean of the Faculty, Dr Isabel Villanueva, and which featured Mr Carlos Latre, showman and entertainment entrepreneur, as guest speaker and class patron.
Carlos Latre, a communications professional who has been entertaining families on television for almost thirty years, encouraged the students to dream: “Dream big, but set goals. Heed your intuition and follow your heart”, he proclaimed. The comedian spoke about his time on Crónicas Marcianas and how that innovative programme helped him grow and shape his career. “I went to London to learn how to sing and dance, and I studied vocal technique. It is important you know who you are and what you represent, and that you know where your strengths lie,” he reflected.
During a speech filled with impersonations of celebrities such as Leo Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Ferran Adrià, Latre recalled the words of the artist Martirio, who once said: “You must walk untrodden paths.” With this message of personal reflection, he urged students to “be self-aware” and to understand that “success also involves sacrifice”.
The Faculty dean, Dr Isabel Villanueva, began her closing remarks by thanking the families for their “absolute confidence in the University”. “Over these four years, we have learned to navigate the ever-changing world of the communications sector. Much will be said about adapting to technology; yet tools change every six months, while people have remained people for thousands of years,” she stressed. Villanueva praised UIC Barcelona’s “human understanding” and encouraged students to nurture their closest relationships and the small things in life.
The event also featured speeches from student representatives of the three undergraduate programmes and the master’s programme, who shared the most memorable moments of their time at the University. “We’ve learned a great deal from one another; there’s always someone in the class who knows a lot about photography or filming or editing, and we would like to thank them,” said Mireia Molina and Gloria Nicolás, Audiovisual Communication students. The students also highlighted the human dimension of their university journey: “We’ve learned that behind every news story there is a person, and that we must practise journalism with commitment, honesty and a sense of service to society,” asserted Èrica Roura, a Journalism student.
The ceremony concluded with the presentation of sashes to the graduates and the traditional singing of the university anthem, Gaudeamus Igitur. With this event, the Faculty of Communication Sciences proudly bids farewell to a new class of journalists, communicators and advertisers and welcomes them to the UIC Barcelona Alumni community.
