Universidade Bandeirante de São Paulo

Bandeirante University of São Paulo
Universidade Bandeirante de São Paulo
Established	1903
Students	Approx. 75,000
Location	São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
Former names	Colégio Buenos Aires (1903–1982) Centro de Ensino Unificado Bandeirante (1982–1993)
Nickname	UNIBAN
Website	http://www.uniban.br/

Universidade Bandeirante de São Paulo (UNIBAN) is a private university in São Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the largest higher learning institutions in the country, with approximately 75,000 undergraduate and graduate students and thirteen campuses in the cities of Sâo Paulo, Osasco and São Bernardo do Campo. Uniban is owned by Anhanguera Educacional, the biggest for-profit educacional company in Brazil.

History

UNIBAN was founded with Buenos Aires College (now called College Padre Antonio Vieira) by Pedro Pinto in the district of Santana. His son, Heitor Pinto e Silva, began enrollment at the Academia Paulista Anchieta, the entity which oversaw UNIBAN. Pedro Pinto's grandson, Heitor Pinto Filho, increased the enrollment in the institution, which would become UNIBAN.

After spending the 1970s heading schools which taught first and second grades, Pinto Filho joined the Paulista School of Arts in 1982, which was founded in 1956 by the musical conductor Eleazar de Carvalho.

Starting tertiary education, it began the College of Sciences and Letters of Moema, the College of Philosophy Our Lady of Medianeira and the College Dom Domênico.

Em 1988, o Conselho Federal de Educação unificou as faculdades "federação", constituindo então o Centro de Ensino Unificado Bandeirante (CEUB).

Em dezembro de 1993, esse mesmo conselho reconheceu — e, em janeiro de 1994, o Ministério da Educação homologou — a criação da universidade.

E no ano 2008, com a integração da Universidade Pan-americana (UNIPAN), localizada nas cidades de Cascavel, Paraná e São José, Santa Catarina, hoje, a UNIBAN atua no território nacional, e não só no estado de São Paulo.

Controversies

Harassment of a student

On October 22, 2009, Geisy Arruda, a student majoring in tourism, went to school dressed in a short skirt which was considered inappropriate by some of her fellow students. This caused a backlash based on moral grounds and ended with the student being harassed and verbally attacked inside the university. She was forced to leave the school ground dressed in a jacket and escorted by police who dispersed the crowds with pepper spray. Videos of the incident were uploaded to YouTube causing national repercussions.

Later, the actions of the university's students who harassed Arruda were denounced as sexist by the female portion of the National Students Union of Brazil and by the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil. The Order of Attorneys of Brazil asked for a public apology by UNIBAN to the student. Senators Valter Pereira and Eduardo Suplicy spoke out against the incident.

On November 7, 2009, the university used paid public announcement to declare that it had expelled Arruda from the university for "disrespecting ethical principles, academic dignity and morality" creating a international story which appeared in newspapers such the New York Times, El País, Pakistan News and The Guardian. The university's decision was declared as sexist by the National Union of Students, which said that "the university was living in the caveman era" and believed the actions were very unusual.

On November 9, UNIBAN decided to reverse its decision. Arruda's lawyers nevertheless announced that she had suffered from seven crimes: abuse, threats, defamation, false imprisonment, obscene acts from fellow students, embarrassment and incitement to crime. On the same day, an investigation by the Delegation for the Defense of Women in the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo was commissioned to determine whether there had been libel.

Despite having the expulsion repealed, Arruda decided not to return to her university. This whole incident made her a national celebrity. With her new fame, Arruda appeared on many television shows and participated in Carnival.

Hiring an interpreter for a deaf student

In September 2009, the Federal Public Ministry demanded that UNIBAN hire an interpreter for a student who was hard of hearing. The student would have had difficulties completing her studies without a Brazilian Sign Language interpreter. According to the university, the student received "specialized educational material and [the service of] skilled professionals".

Cursos integrados

O MEC obrigou desde 22 de março de 2010 a suspensão imediata de cursos integrados da Uniban, que unem graduação, pós-graduação e sequencial. O modelo de ensino foi considerado irregular, já que, com um curso sequenciado de apenas dois a três anos de duração, o cursando teria diploma superior, diploma de graduação e título de especialização em caso de opção por um pós latu senso.

External links

• UNIBAN Official website
• UNIBAN Foundation