Гватемалалық Франсиско Маррокин Университеті

Private, secular university in Guatemala

Francisco Marroquín University (Spanish: Universidad Francisco Marroquín), also known by the abbreviation UFM, is a private, secular university in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It describes its mission as "to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal, and overall economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons." Milton Friedman called the University, "one of the leading universities in Latin America."

It was founded in 1971 by Manuel F. Ayau, known as Muso. Its namesake is Francisco Marroquín, an early bishop of Guatemala and translator of Central American languages, but the university does not follow any of his teachings or philosophies. Started by members of Center for Economic and Social Studies with $40,000 and 125 students, UFM counted 2700 undergraduate students and 1500 graduate students as of 2009. The philosophy statement says that "universities need to place themselves beyond the conflicts of their time so that science and academic freedom – which humankind will need at all times – may be preserved."

In Guatemala, as in most of the rest of Latin America, the educational system concentrates students in their academic or professional discipline from the time of admission. Following secondary school, students are admitted to a particular school or department and, beginning the first year, they follow a prescribed program leading to a degree.

Following Manuel Ayau, in 1972, the first class of students that entered to the university presented a pair of bronzed shoes to the founding rector, Ayau, as a joke. Since then the shoes are kept at the rector's office; as a way to remember to follow Ayau's steps and those of the founders of the university on the road to freedom. Honoring the champions of freedom, it has awarded honoris causa doctorates to scientists, intellectuals, businessmen, artists and others who have contributed to the sciences, the arts, the world of business and the cause of freedom. Four Nobel Prize winners have accepted an honorary degree awarded by the university: Friedrich Hayek; Milton Friedman, James M. Buchanan, and Vernon L. Smith. At the House of Freedom, the library is named after Ludwig von Mises; there are the Friedrich A. Hayek Auditorium and the Milton Friedman Auditorium. The department in charge of the courses of Social Philosophy and Economic Process is named after Henry Hazlitt. There is a Freedom Plaza and a terrace named after Rose Friedman. Mises's birthday, September 29, is celebrated by Professor Joseph Keckeissen's students with a Viennese party by the second semester of every year. It includes theatrical presentations, singing and dancing. Keckeissen attended Mises's Seminar in New York City and he began the theatrical tradition in the 1980s with the Guttenberg Society. Commencement ceremony – On May and November, UFM celebrates commencement ceremonies. During these the graduating students receive their titles and diplomas. On that occasion the Board of Directors award the honoris causa doctorates. Honor graduates ceremony – The night before the commencement ceremony, at UFM, they celebrate a ceremony and a cocktail party in praise of those students which graduate with honors, and to celebrate excellence (in Spanish). The honors awarded are cum laude, for those who obtained grades between 85 and 90: magna cum laude, for those who obtained grades between 91 and 94; and summa cum laude, for those who accumulated an average between 95 and 100. Inaugural Lesson – The Inaugural Lesson enjoys a long academic tradition. At Universidad Francisco Marroquín it is a Commencement ceremony and an opportunity to get together the faculty and the students around the philosophy of freedom presented by a local or visiting professor. The first Inaugural Lesson, at UFM, was presented by vicerector emeritus Rigoberto Juárez Paz, and it was about Plato's Academy.

Marroquín's bust, as the university is named after Bishop Marroquín, because he was the first prelate ordained in America in the colonial times. During his tenure as bishop, Marroquín took care of the rights of indigenous people and helped fund the first university in Central America. Marroquín's bust was donated to the university by Trustee Félix Montes in January 1975. The sculptor is José Nicolás. However, the university is nondenominational. Hayek's bust, as he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1974. He visited 1977, when he was awarded an honoris causa doctorate in social sciences. The House of Freedom, the auditorium of the Academic Building, is named for Hayek. His bust is located at the Ludwig von Mises Library and was donated by Walter S. Morris, of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1991. Mises's bust, as he was a luminary of the Austrian School. He visited Guatemala when he was invited by the Centro de Estudios Económico Sociales and supported for the foundation of the university. His bust was donated by the class of 1975 by the School of Business. The Atlas Libertas is a bas relief placed on the main façade of the UFM Business School. A high relief sculpture of a human figure supporting the universe seen from the back from head to hip. The universe is represented by a series of semicircles (abstract planets and gear mechanisms). The sculpture is made of brass plate with a cyan colored finish, resembling oxidized copper. The Central Garden (renamed the Garden of Manuel Ayau) ismodeled after a Greek amphitheater and hosts the commencement ceremonies. The bust of Marroquin is the focus of the garden. In 2011, after the death of founder Ayau, it was renamed to honor him. The Academic Building's Garden is surrounded by classrooms and the administration offices, seven stories high. Nevertheless, with an air of a Japanese garden and pond, it is an oasis of tranquility, removed from the exuberance of the campus itself. There is a fountain at the Ludwig von Mises Library, near the Central Garden.