COMENIUS UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES ITS 105TH ANNIVERSARY. IT OPENS AN EXHIBITION OF MEDALS AND LAUNCHES THE CU ALUMNI CLUB
Bratislava, 27 June 2024: The oldest university in our country has been offering higher education in the Slovak language for 105 years. Comenius University Bratislava (CU) celebrates its anniversary today. On this occasion, the Rector of Comenius University Marek Števček, opened an exhibition of medals that the university has been awarding for over a century.
The exhibition and the accompanying book titled Medals of Comenius University Bratislava 1924 – 2024 were conceived by a team from the CU Archive. The authors intend to present the history of the medals, explain their significance, and introduce the artists who created them. "I am pleased that we commemorate the anniversary of the university with medals - awards given to institutions and personalities who jointly wrote our history" said Marek Števček, CU's rector.
The exhibition strives to raise awareness of how the medals are created and what they mean - from the initial conception, the occasions on which the medals were issued, their appearance and design, to the awarding protocol. The exhibition also shows how medals are used as symbols of the university on academic insignia, and in the university’s emblem. The exhibition is open to public in the apsis of the historic University building on Šafárik Square in Bratislava from Monday, 1 July, 2024, until the beginning of the new academic year.
The final design of the first Commemorative Medal of Comenius University was approved by the academic senate on 21 May, 1924. It was the brain-child of sculptor and medal-maker Otakar Španiel. The university liked his design so much that in the following years it selected artists from among his students and followers. Twenty-one medal-makers created the university's medals between 1924 and present. Ľudmila Cvengrošová was one of them.
The 105th anniversary of the university is also an opportunity for launching the CU Alumni Club. It is a club of former students and staff, and other people connected to the university. It gives them an opportunity to maintain their relationship with their alma mater. Its members will receive university news, event invitations, continued education offers, university job offers, openings in the advisory and decision-making bodies of the university, and information about activities organised by the university. Membership will also include discounts on tickets to events organised by CU and purchases in the CU e-shop. Membership in the CU Alumni Club is free, and anyone wishing to join can do so via a an application form available on CU’s website.