Rector Andreu Oliva, S.J. Phone +503 2210 6600 Founded 1965 Academic staff 421 | Nickname La UCA Mascot Owl Number of students 8,993 Colors Royal blue, Gold | |
Motto Universidad para el Cambio Social
University for Social Change Type Private, Jesuit, Catholic Established 1965; 52 years ago (1965) Location San Salvador, El Salvador Address Bulevar Los Proceres Boulevard Los Próceres, San Salvador, El Salvador Notable alumni Ignacio Ellacuría, Mauricio Funes, Antonio Saca, Mario A Rivas Similar University of El Salvador, José Matías Delgado, Francisco Gavidia University, Don Bosco University - Campus, Universidad Tecnologica Profiles | ||
José Simeón Cañas Central American University (Spanish: Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"), also known as UCA El Salvador, is a private university with nonprofit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, run by the Society of Jesus. It was founded on September 15, 1965, at the request of a group of Roman Catholic families who appealed to the Salvadoran government and the Society of Jesus in order to create another university as an alternative to the University of El Salvador, becoming the first private institution of higher education in the country. The Jesuits also run Central American University in Nicaragua (UCA Managua), opened in 1960.
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Jesuits residence on the campus of the university of central america uca in san salvador
History
UCA has since evolved to be one of the best institutions of higher learning in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama). This is the case, despite the university's focus on playing a decisive role in the transformation of the unjust Salvadoran society. Such a focus within the Salvadoran context has driven the university to give priority to undergraduate degrees, research within the social sciences, and popular presentation of research results ("proyección social") in local peer-reviewed journals. These elements do not of their nature improve the university's place in international rankings.
In the 1970s and 1980s, during the Civil War in El Salvador, UCA was known as the home of several internationally recognized Jesuit scholars and intellectuals, including Jon Sobrino, Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró, and Segundo Montes. They were outspoken against the abuses of the Salvadoran military and government, and carried out research to demonstrate the effects of the war and poverty in the country. The extreme social conditions in El Salvador provided a very rich empirical basis for innovative research within sociology, social anthropology, philosophy, social psychology, and theology. These scholars made important and lasting contributions within these fields. Ellacuría, Martín-Baró and Segundo Montes, along with three other Jesuit professors, their housekeeper, and her daughter, were murdered by the Salvadoran Armed forces on November 16, 1989, in one of the most notorious episodes from the Civil War (see Murder of UCA scholars).
Campus
The university is located at Antiguo Cuscatlán. The university campus has 38 acres (16 ha) with 33 buildings, a professional soccer field, basketball and volleyball courts, as well as three auditoriums and four cafeterias. The campus also includes a minimarket, a museum, three clinics, a book shop, a main library, several smaller thematic libraries, and a documentation center.