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Women who make the University: a living flame that endures. This is how we commem...

Women who make the University: a living flame that endures. This is how we commemorated 8M!

12 May, 2026

On March 8, the University of Cauca not only commemorates International Women’s Day, but also recognizes the eternal flame that illuminates our history and our present. Through the campaign “It is not a day, it is not a month, it is a lifetime,” we reaffirm that the contribution of women transcends dates; it is a living legacy that sustains and transforms the caucana Alma Mater generation after generation. Therefore, to honor the women who, in their daily lives, make the University possible, we invited them to the University Sports Center -CDU and captured their essence in a photograph, seen from an aerial perspective, symbolizing their role. Organized in such a way that they evoke the mythical flame of our institutional logo, they became the protagonists of an emotional act, turning into the reflection of our university identity.

Within the framework of International Women’s Day, the University of Cauca commemorates March 8 with a new edition of the campaign “It is not a day, it is not a month, it is a lifetime,” an institutional initiative that, since 2023, has been building collective memory to make visible and honor the permanent contribution of women to university life, recognizing that their legacy is not limited to a date but extends across entire generations.

Thus, the first edition turned its attention to pioneering women who opened paths and broadened horizons, among them Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, the country’s first female university student, senator, and ambassador of Colombia; Luz Priscila Ceballos Hoyos, the first Minister of Public Works and national director of Rural Roads; as well as, more recently, Dr. Aída Patricia González Nieva, the institution’s first Afro-descendant Vice President. Women who, in different times and settings, left deep marks and traced paths along which many others now move forward, opening new roads and contributing through everyday actions to the transformation not only of the University, but also of society.

Throughout 2024, the campaign continued expanding this fabric of stories, making visible women whose histories emerge from everyday life and, precisely for that reason, are deeply meaningful. Among them were Sandra Narváez, the first woman appointed as a full-time security guard; Yulieth Morales, a visual artist who makes misak culture visible through her work; and Rosa Elvira Valencia, the well-known manager of the student residence kiosk, who through her service has come to know generations of members of the University of Cauca community. By 2025, the initiative continued to grow by highlighting students, professors, staff members, and graduates, confirming that the University of Cauca keeps its flame alive thanks to multiple hands, forms of knowledge, and affections that, although sometimes not so visible, are indispensable.

This memory did not come to a halt; on the contrary, it has continued transforming through the voices and reflections of those who have accompanied the process. From the institutional perspective, our Academic Vice President, recognized, as we mentioned in previous lines, in the first edition, Dr. Aída Patricia González Nieva, highlights that, “Recognizing the women who, through their work, dedication, commitment, and everyday efforts, make the university increasingly greater and sustain that prestige, that added value that allows it to transcend and transform lives, is a way of valuing, publicly recognizing, and thanking each of the women of the University of Cauca for that loving commitment, that dedication, that effort, that extra mile traveled every single day to make this university greater and greater each day.”

For her part, Professor Andrea Calderón, together with the research group Vocingleras, has contributed a conceptual perspective that has allowed us to understand these stories as part of a living, active, and present memory: “The concept of the campaign emerged to commemorate March 8 as a vindication of the rights conquered by women throughout history and, in its bicentennial, the University of Cauca has counted on the participation and contribution of many women who have made possible its adaptation to the dynamics of changing times and to social transformations, among other processes; although there are still many women whose contribution to the university we have not yet been able to recognize by name, it seemed valuable to us to begin by highlighting some of them for their contribution in different mission-related scenarios and thus take a step toward a collective memory that can continue to be enriched through everyone’s contribution. This year we considered it necessary to go one step further and move from commemoration to the recognition of the women who today build an active memory, broaden perspectives, and, through their daily work, sustain and open paths for other women at the University of Cauca. That is the shift in the concept: recognizing that the work of women is highly valuable, that by inhabiting the right to work through mission-oriented projection they contribute to protecting what has been conquered and make it possible for the university to feel unique and project its hallmark as a member of the University of Cauca community.”

In this sense, in 2026 the invitation is open and profoundly collective: it is the University of Cauca community itself that nominates the women, because no one better than those who share everyday life can recognize how they transform, teach, manage, research, create, and sustain our institution. To begin this commemoration, dozens of #UnicaucaWomen gathered to give shape with their bodies to the flame of the institutional emblem, evoking the university motto, “Whoever must die should leave their light to posterity,” as a wonderful and deeply moving metaphor for that presence which illuminates beyond time, a light that does not belong to a single person but is built among many, just as happens with the University itself.

As the institutional bicentennial approaches, these actions acquire an even deeper meaning, because recognizing the women who make the University possible is also recognizing the history that is being written right now. Although significant challenges still persist in fully guaranteeing their rights, participation, and equity in all areas, as a community we are taking firm steps toward a more just, plural, and inclusive University of Cauca. Therefore, this March 8 is not only a date on the calendar but also an opportunity to thank, make visible, and celebrate those who, through their everyday work, keep alive the flame that will illuminate the future.

Because it is not a day, it is not a month… it is a lifetime!