The Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU) has issued a statement to clarify its position on the controversy generated by the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration of the former Minister of the Environment and current senator, Adrián Peña. In the document, the UCU explained that Peña entered the university in 2002 as a student of the Bachelor of Business Administration and discontinued his studies after the first semester of 2006, without having finished his degree.
However, in 2021, Peña re-enrolled in his undergraduate degree and passed two of the courses he had pending.. In 2022, she passed a third pending subject and defended her Degree Report. At that time, according to her curricular file, she only had the Special Seminar: Management Simulation course remaining. The UCU clarified that since Peña resumed his studies, was in permanent dialogue with the direction of the race and that, until February 17, 2023, he never stated that he had completed the seminar course in question in 2005. However, on that date, Peña made his concern known and provided information about it. With this data, the university was able to review its physical files and reconstruct the situation.
Missing records for Adrián Peña’s title
The UCU explained that, in the second semester of 2005, Peña took the course without enrolling in the student self-management system and never regularized his situation in the Faculty secretariat, so he did not appear in the course approval records. His participation in the subject, as well as his approval and attendance, was reflected in the professor’s Course Book, which is kept in the university archive. For this reason, his approval was not listed in the university’s computer systems.
Once the situation was reconstructed, the student was asked to start the application process for the title. The Graduation Office completed the study of his academic record and Bedelía issued a certificate stating that Nelson Adrián Peña Robaina has taken and passed all the subjects of the Business Administration Degree. His title is pending.
The Catholic University of Uruguay stated that it maintains a full and dedicated commitment to their students and that, when a student returns to complete their degree, everything possible is done to support themwithout neglecting the academic rigor and seriousness that are required by being a university.
