Professor Leopoldo Múnera has officially resigned from his position as rector of Universidad Nacional de Colombia after more than a year in office. The move follows the Fifth Section of the Council of State annulling his appointment for the 2024-2027 term due to irregularities in the process. Múnera stressed that the university's transformation project does not depend on one individual.
Leopoldo Múnera, who served as rector of Universidad Nacional de Colombia for more than a year, announced his official resignation via a statement. This step comes in response to a ruling by the Fifth Section of the Council of State, which annulled his appointment for the 2024-2027 institutional period. The court found irregularities in the issuance of the resolution naming him, noting that the election process ended on March 21, 2024, with José Ismael Peña Reyes designated as rector.
The university's Superior Council erroneously applied Article 41 of Law 1437 of 2011, which allows corrections for irregularities only before the issuance of the final act. In his statement, Múnera said: "Convencido de que el proyecto de universidad que hemos impulsado no depende de una persona y que representa los deseos de transformación de un sector importante de la universidad, considero que otros(as) docentes deben tomar el relevo académico y animar las reformas que necesita la Unal".
He also thanked the university community for supporting the collective transformation project: "Reitero el agradecimiento a las y los integrantes de la comunidad universitaria que promovieron y apoyaron, con razón y sentido críticos, la propuesta de transformación de la institución y la vida académica elaborada de forma colectiva; en especial, a quienes participaron en Bien Común y en diferentes espacios y mesas de trabajo, como estudiantes, profesores, trabajadoras (es), egresados (as) y pensionadas (os), con el objetivo de fortalecer los lazos comunitarios y la pertinencia de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia para el país".
This resignation paves the way for new leadership to advance the institution's necessary reforms.
