LUISS Guido Carli AN EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISE OPEN TO THE WORLD Edited by Mauro Marcantoni and Maria Liana Dinacci All information and illustrations are taken from: M. Marcantoni and M. L. Dinacci, “LUISS Guido Carli, un’impresa formativa aperta al mondo”, IASA Edizioni/IDESIA, Trento, 2012, pp. 312. English translation: John Millerchip Acknowledgements For their active interest and help: Pier Luigi Celli, Massimo Egidi, Giovanni Lo Storto For organizational support: Alessandro Lubicz For sharing their experience and opinions: Luigi Abete, Luigi Ferro, Giovanni Floris, Emma Marcegaglia, Giampiero Massolo, Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, Carlo Luigi Scognamiglio Graphic design: evoq, Rovereto (Trento) © IASA Edizioni/IDESIA, Via Piave 22, 38122 Trento - www.idesia.it Cover photograph: one of the university lecture rooms at the LUISS campus on Viale Romania (LUISS Guido Carli archive) 2 LUISS Guido Carli AN EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISE OPEN TO THE WORLD CONTENTS LUISS ante litteram 1932-1965 3 The initial metamorphosis 1966-1974 10 Signs of change 1975-1978 17 Relaunch 1979-1983 24 The Carli era 1984-1992 31 LUISS Guido Carli 1993-2000 38 University and globalization 2001-2003 45 The LUISS world 2004-2009 52 Calibrated to the future 2010-2013 59 2 LUISS ante litteram 1932-1965 The Empire State Building in New York, completed in 1931 3 Some people place LUISS’s origins in the mid-1970s but in fact it dates from much further back, when its enduring mission, to be both an expression of its time and to influence it through education, was already being put to the test. 4 Rome, St. Peter’s Square, To understand LUISS Guido Carli, it is necessary to go thronged with devotees back to the very beginning of its development, to that vi- tal, uninterrupted breath of life that determined its essen- ce from the start. The ante litteram history of LUISS, i.e. of the founding and development of the Università Inter- nazionale degli Studi Sociali Pro Deo (“Pro Deo” Interna- tional University of Social Studies), is redolent of encycli- cals, of personalities with highly distinguished moral and scientific credentials and of an ambitious project with a truly international scope: to create a new university that would specialize in training young people in the expert use of mass communications, in the dynamics of markets and trade unions and in the values implicit in “democra- cy centered on God,” but which at the same time would be open to intercultural and interreligious exchange. The undertaking, surprisingly far-sighted and innovative for its time, was inspired by the work of the Belgian Domi- nican friar Félix André Morlion in the 1930s. These were crucial years in many ways: on the one hand the period saw the development of skyscrapers, the communica- tions industry, and mass motorization, but on the other it unleashed totalitarian , racist and violent forces in many countries, leading to the disaster of the Second World War. Recovery after the catastrophe was all the more ar- duous because of the constant climate of tension betwe- en the countries of the Soviet Block and those of the West. 5 Pro Deo graduates on the staircase Pro Deo aut Contra Deum in the University’s headquarters on Viale Pola, Rome May 1932 saw the issue of the Papal encyclical Caritate Christi Compulsi, in which Pius XI identified the decision to be for God or against God as “the choice that would de- cide the fate of all humanity: in politics, in economics, in morals, in discipline, in the sciences in the arts, in the state, in civic and domestic society, in the East and in the West.” In response to the appeal launched by the Pope, the Belgian Dominican Félix André Morlion founded the Pro Deo mo- vement, which developed a system of thought designed to assert democratic values that were enriched and supported by the Christian faith. From Belgium to Rome A many-sided and fascinating figure, especially interested in the worlds of education and mass communication, Morlion worked on the initial “European phase” of his project from Brussels. In 1940, with the German invasion of Belgium, he moved first to France and then to the United States, 6 where he founded the Pro Deo International Center in New York. It was here, immediately after the end of the War, that he devised the idea of setting up a university that would offer post-Fascist and post-colonial countries a co- gent and effective model for the construction of democracy. So Morlion returned to Europe, choosing Rome, the capital of Catholicism, as the ideal place for the future development of the movement and for the new kind of university that he had in mind. Public opinion, economics and social sciences In 1944 Morlion founded the Istituto superiore di Scien- ze dell’Opinione Pubblica (Advanced Institute of Public Opinion Sciences), an innovative school focusing on mass communication. Then, in 1948, the three Departments of Pro Deo University – Political Science, Economics and The delivery of the Papal Business, and Industrial and Labor Relations – were establi- Brief which Pope Paul VI shed as an extended system of educational centers operating dedicated to Pro Deo in 1965. From the left, Father Morlion, in other Italian cities such as Milan and Turin and in other Cardinal Amleto Cicognani, Aniceto Fernandez countries, especially in South America. The new universi- and Monsignor Ferrero ty, guided by Morlion as president and provost in charge 7 of academic matters and by his deputy Monsignor Carlo Ferrero, grew in size and consolidated its position while maintaining a resolutely international approach. International and Italian friends As well as enjoying the support of influential American backers, Morlion’s educational ventures also acquired incre- asing recognition and respect in the Italian entrepreneurial world, which perceived the business-oriented, managerial style of education cultivated by Pro Deo as a concrete means to the creation of a new managerial class for the country. Among the first to appreciate its potential even in the early 1950s were figures such as Angelo Costa, then-President of A child presents Gianni Agnelli the Confederazione Generale Industria Italiana (the asso- with a posy of flowers. In the center, a smiling ciation of Italian industrialists, known as Confindustria), Vittorio Valletta and Vittorio Valletta, the Chairman of Fiat. 8 The historic headquarters of the University In the first quarter of the 1700s, a luxurious residen- ce was built for Cardinal Giulio Alberoni on Via No- mentana in Rome. Just two parts of the estate still sur- vive: what is now the public park Villa Paganini and the area where the historic he- adquarters of the Università LUISS Guido Carli on Viale Pola now stands. Pro Deo and its students moved to this building, constructed in 1924 and designed by the engineer Francesco Bruno, in 1958; just a few years pre- viously, in 1954, the palaz- zina and its grounds had been used as the set for the film Lucky to be a woman, with Sophia Loren and Mar- cello Mastroianni. 9 The initial metamorphosis 1966-1974 The entrance to the University premises on Viale Pola, Rome 10 With the addition of the word “Libera” (Free) to its name, the Università degli Studi Sociali Pro Deo made an explicit declaration of intent: to capitalize on the independence granted by the state in order to assert its unique status among Italian universities. The student movement The 1960s in Italy was a period of intense economic deve- of the late ‘60s; a demonstration in front of La Sapienza lopment and rapid growth of general welfare: in just a few University in Rome years, an agricultural society had transformed itself into an industrial power. The country was hard-working, the cur- rency was strong, and household appliances and cars were within everyone’s reach. There was nothing to suggest that the situation might soon change, but by the end of the de- cade a wind of change was blowing in from America, more specifically from California, carrying a climate of protest and struggle against authority and political power. The cru- cible of the rebellion that infected young people all over the world was the university, no longer an untroubled island for the instruction of those who are privileged enough to afford higher education, but a volcano erupting with bold ideals and a determination to change the world and overturn the system from the inside. The demonstrations of protest in Italy assumed the character of ideological demands, some- times tainted with violence, and forced the state universities to suspend their normal activities, turning them into pla- ces of fortification, confrontation and conflict. The “Libera Università degli Studi Sociali Pro Deo”, which had recently been granted official state recognition of its educational ac- tivities and independence, chose to take the path of offering a viable alternative to the turmoil that prevailed in other universities. It therefore adhered peacefully to its academic program, rejecting dissent for its own sake while continuing to promote debate on subjects of paramount topical interest and forthright exchange with the economic world. 12 State endorsement Two decrees of the President of Italy mark the proud fulfil- lment of goals set by the Pro Deo movement: the first – no. 436, issued in 1966, gave official recognition to the Libera Università degli Studi Sociali Pro Deo (“Pro Deo” Free University of Social Studies) and instituted its Department of Economics and Business; the second – no. 482 issued in 1967, extended accreditation to the Department of Political Science. This new seal of state approval, however, was only a starting point: deliberately differentiating its approach from that adopted by other Italian universities, Pro Deo A meeting at the start University embarked on a dynamic period teeming with new of the academic year, with Pro Deo University students initiatives and steadily acquired public recognition of the from Europe, Africa and Asia quality, distinctiveness and value of the services it offered.