Professor Débora Cristina Jeffrey assumed, this Monday (06), the directorship of the Faculty of Education (FE) at Unicamp and became the first black woman to direct a teaching, research and extension unit in the history of the University. The professor replaces professor Renê Trentin Silveira and will hold the position until 2028. Professor Guilherme do Val Toledo Prado replaces professor Alexandro Paixão in the position of associate director of the institution.
Born in Campinas, Débora Jeffrey has a life story linked to the University. Her mother, Maria de Lourdes, worked for almost three decades as a nursing assistant at Hospital das Clínicas. Débora, in turn, studied at Unicamp and became a teacher at the house. She also serves as leader of the Study and Research Group on Educational Policy and Assessment (Gepale) and as vice-president of the southeast region of the Brazilian Society of Comparative Education (SBEC).
Débora Jeffrey received a standing ovation when she signed the instrument of inauguration. She thanked family, friends, colleagues and made special reference to her ialorixá, Aparecida de Iemanjá. And she celebrated what she considers new times. “This is the new Unicamp. When we look back, a room like this one here today was not like that. Being here and marking this watershed at the university, as the first black full professor to assume this chair, is a great responsibility,” she stated. “But I’m not talking to myself. I'm talking about a story from the past; I'm talking now about the present and future history. Because we are under construction.”
The inauguration ceremony was attended by several black collectives — Unicamp's Black Consciousness Center, Aquilomba Fórum, Coletivo Arvoredo Negro, Unicamp Network — as well as the Marielle Franco Academic Center and indigenous academics. It also included representation from entities such as the Racial Equality Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), the Brazilian Network of Afro Entrepreneurs, the Black Community Council and the Brazilian Society of Comparative Education.
Recognition
According to the new director, the act is the result of a process of struggle for historical reparation, symbolic of the resistance of black people in this country. “I am because we are. And this feeling is representative”, said Jeffrey before saluting a large group of black women who have become symbols. “Hail to Marias, Rainha Nzinga, Dandara, Maria Firmina, Lélia Gonzales, Neusa Santos Souza, Beatriz Nascimento, Laudelina de Campos Melo, Luiza Barros, Marielle Franco. Hail Nilma Lino Gomes, Eunice Prudente, Petronilha Silva, Matilde Ribeiro, Benedita da Silva, Leci Brandão, Sueli Carneiro, Maria Valéria Barbosa, Monica Abranches Galindo, Gislaine Santos and so many other inspiring black women”, she reinforced, to applause from the audience.
Renê Trentin Silveira said it was a representative moment and regretted the delay for a black woman to take on a management position. “It has been more than 50 years since Unicamp was founded,” said Silveira. “But, on the other hand, it is good that it was up to FE to inaugurate this new era, of more diversity and more democracy in our university. This is a memorable moment, representative of the combative strength of the people, the black movement and all the people who stand in solidarity with them in the fight to overcome institutional and structural racism and social inequality in the country.”
'Inclusion process is irreversible'
Professor Maria Luiza Moretti, general coordinator of Unicamp, criticized the lack of gender equality at the University and recalled that, of the 24 teaching centers, only four are run by women. “That’s very little,” she said. Débora Jeffrey recommended that you be persistent. “Never doubt your strength. They will often doubt you, but have confidence.”
The rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, said that the inclusion process being developed at Unicamp is irreversible. “Our university has definitely embraced the cause of inclusion. We have 50% of our students coming from public schools, and 35% of our students are black and mixed race, representing the percentage existing in the state of São Paulo,” he stated. “And we are probably the university in the country that invests the most in inclusion and retention programs. By adopting measures like these, we are not only settling accounts with the past, but building bridges and perspectives for the future. This is transformative.”
