Period 1623 – 1767         Period 1826 – 1855         Period 1859 – 1923         Year 1923         Present Day

The UASLP and Its Place in History

The Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, obtained in 1923, was the result of a process of ideological and intellectual change among teachers, administrators, young students, and members of the government of that visionary generation.

Gradually, as in every historical process, an idea of change began to emerge. The social and armed movement of the Mexican Revolution deeply influenced the thinking of the generation of men and women who were involved in it. This was the case for those from San Luis Potosí who consolidated the autonomy of our institution, an unprecedented event at the national level.

The birth of the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí was the result of ideological struggles among men and women who sought freedom through education. Today, the history of the various movements carried out by teachers and students since the last 20 years of the 19th century is well known; these movements promoted changes in the structure of higher education.

In March 1885, a group of students from the Scientific and Literary Institute, supported by several figures from the fields of culture and science in San Luis Potosí, openly expressed their desire for change within the Institute itself and founded an entity—although only for a brief period—which they called the “Free University.” These were the first attempts to obtain freedom of teaching and thought for the institution.

From that moment on, various publications emerged from the growing desire for change within different sectors of the Institute’s academic community. At the same time, texts emphasizing the importance of a higher education system based on a university structure began appearing more frequently in local and national printed media. By the second decade of the 20th century, the efforts that previous generations had initiated gained strength and determination among those directing the institution and the government.

The autonomy of our institution is closely linked to the concept of the University itself. The profound transformation that took place on January 9, 1923, implied the freedom to make its own decisions, as well as the essence and spirit behind its creation, based on the principle of the universality of knowledge and the freedom of the human spirit.