• Rennes 2 University voted against its integration as a "component" of the future great University of Rennes.

  • Seven establishments are associated with this Unir project, which has been discussed for at least four years.

  • The Unir entity is not threatened but only Rennes 1 University can now claim component status, which would cause it to lose its name.

It is a gas plant as only higher education can do. In Rennes, the project to bring together the two universities and several grandes écoles had a first halt on Friday. In question ? The vote of the board of directors of Rennes 2, which voted with a clear majority in favor of a simple status of partner within this project called "Unir", as identified by

Ouest-France

. A strong signal sent to the project leaders but which does not call into question the future of this future great university of Rennes.

The Faculty of Human Sciences located in Villejean had already distinguished itself in 2015 when Olivier David took office by burying the ill-started project of merger of Rennes 1 and Rennes 2. Six years later, it is now Christine Rivalan Guégo who chairs the establishment which brings together more than 23,000 students.

The majority union delighted

"We remain integrated into the project but rather as an associate", explains the university.

Twenty-three of the 31 members of the board of directors voted in favor of this associate status.

By refusing to marry, Rennes 2 retains the possibility of keeping its name, its brand, its entity, even after the creation of Unir.

In a tweet, the Pirate Union welcomed this choice.

"Faced with the race for rankings, long live universities on a human scale," said the majority student union.

VICTORY: The board of Rennes 2 University votes against the merger with Rennes 1 University and the grandes écoles and refuses to join the future experimental establishment (#EpE / #epex) in Rennes!

Faced with the race for rankings, long live universities on a human scale.

✊️🏴‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/jhsFe8kXtH

- Union Pirate, the Rennes 2 student union (@UnionPirate) October 15, 2021

In fact, this vote does not call into question the creation of the future Unir, whose outlines finally seem to be emerging after four years of discussions.

In September, the seven member establishments had signed a territorial coordination agreement defining the main objectives of this merger.

To put it simply, Insa (engineering school), the Ecole normale supérieure (ENS), Sciences Po, the National School of Chemistry, the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP) and the two universities hope to shine more internationally by uniting.

Not the death of the great university

The refusal of Rennes 2 to join the project is however not crippling.

"Each establishment must decide whether it wishes to be a component or simply associated", explains one within Unir.

The teams are currently working on writing the "site contract" which should be finalized by the end of the year before being validated by the Ministry of Higher Education next year.

A gas plant, we warned you ...

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