In the last few weeks, you may have noticed some strange looking people in the streets of Veszprém dressed up as Jack Frost, Alice from Wonderland or an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. It is not a dress-ball; it is one of the biggest festivals of the University of Pannonia which is called ‘VEN’ or University Days of Veszprém. Here are some details to raise  your attention.

VEN has a very long history.  It was first organised in 1969 by some enthusiastic students and professors who wanted to make university life more colourful in Veszprém. Soon after, the University of Days of Veszprém became a model for other universities all around Hungary that makes our students very proud. Obviously, at the very beginning its structure and traditions were quite different as it was not about music. It was only an informal meeting for all university citizens where they could talk and entertain each other with colourful programmes and different kinds of games. These programmes also gave them the opportunity to escape from the grey and busy weekdays and the monotonous world. Soon it became one of the most dominant festivals of the region by attracting hundreds of visitors from the nearby cities and towns. This one-week long event offered a wide variety of programs not only for fun but also for the purpose of different competitions.

Today, five teams are fighting to be the best team of campus. The winner group’s candidate becomes the student rector of the university until the next VEN. These five teams are always formed  of students based on their study programs. All of the groups are led by their own a candidates with their two ‘campaigners’ or helpers who stick with them through thick and thin in order to reach the desired goal. Of course, this title involves different responsibilities  as the student rector of the university becomes the leaderof the institution for a whole day, he or she even wears the rector’s chain and take actions, too. However, the road ahead is a long one as the groups have to prepare flags, songs, newspapers, movies, lectures, shows and team t-shirts in order to convince the jury and the students. During the week there are preparations, movie nights, inverse lectures, concerts and parties. Thefestival is eventually terminates with the election ceremony at the end of the week.. As a matter of curiosity, the first female student rector was only elected in 2015, until this year only men won this prestigious title.

This year there are 4 groups competing  at the University Days: VENtarktisz, VENdetta, KaraVEN, and VENderland. As you may have noticed, the word ‘VEN’ can be found in all of the names however,  the themes by which the groups are organised are quite different. VENtarktisz -like Antarctic- is full of winter characters. VENdetta consists of ‘venonymous’ people for anarchy. KaraVEN –like caravan- is coming from Egypt with Pharaon Gé. Finally, VENderland will introduce you to the crazy world of Alice from Wonderland in a special Hungarian way. For further information check out the groups on facebook, but you may  also join and help them during the events.

At the beginning, there were only a few visitors to  the programmes, nowadays there are  about 20 000 guests at each event. Some of the traditions have changed in the last 40 years, but the purpose remained the  same: entertain the audience and be best team of the university. Please note that University Days are only organized in every two years, and if you miss out on this one you have to wait a few years till  the next one. Stay tuned, as in addition to the colourful programs, famous Hungarian bands will be playing every night during the week.

I hope that will all the information above I managed to  raise  your attention and you will decide to participate in the VEN this year. Further information can be found on the official facebook page of VEN (@VEN2017) where you can find the ticket prices, the list of the programs and  the groups of 2017. If you would like to see pictures about previous VENs you should visit egyetemunk.uni-pannon.hu and click on the gallery.

Fotók: archív

A Long live to the VEN! bejegyzés először Egyetemünk-én jelent meg.

As you may already know, the University of Pannonia was founded in 1949 as a faculty of the Technical University of Budapest. Later on, in 1951 the situation changed and the institution became an independent university under the name of Veszprém University of Chemical Engineering. Surprisingly, most of the local residents were sceptical towards the university and the lecturers, though later it became a somewhat better. In spite of the circumstances, the total local acceptance of the university was achieved only in 1956 when the university supported the revolutionary events.

Did you know?

• During the revolution of 1956, the majority of the university students were deported to the Soviet Union. When they had the opportunity to return to Veszprém, the inhabitants of the city greeted them with ovation and donated them fruits, food, cigarettes, and other things.
  
• During its first years, the university had only 16 lecturers in total; in fact, all of them were young males. They were working incredibly hard and concentrated on organization and education rather than carrying out research. 
• “Egyetemünk”, the official newspaper of the University of Pannonia was founded in 1956 but after the revolution it was banned for 3 years. Apart from those 3 years, it has been issued continuously for almost 60 years. 
• During the 1980’s, there was a dilemma whether to close the whole university or convert it into an academy because of its unprofitable operation. 
• Before the political change of the 1990’s, there wasn’t much chance to open new departments. However, some years later new directions and possibilities emerged and the name of our institution became University of Veszprém. Furthermore, the Faculty of Teacher Training and the Faculty of Engineering were founded. 
• Further expansion took place in 2000, when the university integrated the Georgikon Faculty of Agriculture and the off-site campus in Nagykanizsa started to operate. 
• In 2003, two new faculties were added, namely the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Information Technology. Thanks to these improvements, the University of Pannonia became a 5-faculty institution and reached its current form.

(Fotók: PE archív)

A The wind of change bejegyzés először Egyetemünk-én jelent meg.

The University of Pannonia was founded in 1949 as the Faculty of Heavy Chemistry of the Technical University of Budapest. The aim of the foundation was to increase the number of technicist and to improve the quality level of vocational education in this field. Veszprém was an ideal place to accomplish these goals as several chemical factories operated around the town. Besides, a number of new research institutes related to the university were also founded at that time. These circumstances guaranteed excellent conditions to combine theoretical and empirical trainings and ensured high quality in higher education.

In the first few years, the faculty was directed by Karoly Polinszky who was appointed by Technical University of Budapest. He was responsible for several tasks, e.g. organizing the teaching activity, providing accommodations for teachers and professors.

Did you know?

The University of Pannonia had different names until the 1st of March 2006. It was called Veszprém University of Chemical Engineering and University of Veszprém, too.

Károly Polinszky was only 27 years old when he became responsible for directing the University as a senior lecturer of the Technical University of Budapest.

The first academic year opening ceremony was held on 26th of September in 1949 with 16 teachers and 126 students enrolled (today there are about 6400 students).

The ratio between male and female students was quite diverse; in the beginnings only 18% of the students were female. Later, it increased and in 1963 this number rose to 32%.

The first building of the university was Building “A” and it was semi-finished when Károly Polinszky started his organizing activity in Veszprém. The number of students also increased year by year, so constructions of new buildings became necessary at that time. First, Building ‘A’ has been extended, then Building “E”, “D” and “C” were built.

Later, these constructions were continued and the Aula in Building “B” got its final form in 1961.

The first Doctoral certificates in Engineering were granted in the academic year of 1959/1960.

To be continued…

A History of the university bejegyzés először Egyetemünk-én jelent meg.