University of Bari

University of Bari   (University)
Formation	1925
Headquarters	Bari, Italy
Type	Public
Founded in 1925 as the "Benito Mussolini Adriatic University"; many scandals.

The University of Bari Aldo Moro (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro) is a higher education institution in Bari, Apulia, in Southern Italy.

The University of Bari was founded in 1925 as the "Benito Mussolini Adriatic University" (Università Adriatica Benito Mussolini). It is a state-supported university which is divided into 12 faculties. Each faculty has its own set of departments that focus on the arts sciences, mathematics, social sciences, literature, medicine, law, and education.

The university offers various courses for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students. Aside from teaching, the university is also focused on scientific research at the doctorate level. The University of Bari research centres are highly-interactive, having connections among different departments, universities, and other research centres.

The University of Bari is one of the most prestigious universities in Southern Italy and it is one of the largest universities in Italy, with a student population of around 60,000. A recent name change refers to the statesman Aldo Moro (1916-1978), a student of law there until 1939 who then served as ordinary professor of philosophy of Law and Colonial Policy (1941) and of Criminal Law (1942).

Controversies

• Proximity to fascism. As in other academic circles during the Fascist period, the university was close to the ideologies of the regime, to the point of obtaining the title of favorite of the Duce. The university was founded in 1925, shortly after Benito Mussolini's rise to government, with the support of Mussolini himself for the proposal to establish a university with a single faculty, in medicine. Mussolini then repeatedly asked for an increase in public funding for the university and promoted its expansion, with particular interest in the aforementioned faculty of medicine and its eugenics studies, but also with political and ideological interests in the other emerging faculties.

• Furthermore, in 1926 a fasces (the fascist symbol) was carved on the main facade of the university. Finally, in the session of April 24 of the same year, the university's board of directors decided to name the university after the Duce, and took the name of "Benito Mussolini Adriatic University". Both fascist symbols - the fascist fasces on the façade and the title after Mussolini - remained for almost twenty years, until the fall of the government in the second half of 1943.

• Nepotism. The university has been involved in events that have had a wide media coverage. In the investigations into nepotism, the faculty most involved was that of economics, which in 2010 held the Italian record of kinship among teachers: 42 out of 176 teachers had kinship ties between themselves. Other cases of alleged nepotism occurred in the Faculty of Pharmacy, which was sentenced in 2012 to compensate Rosanna Mallamaci with 200,000 euros for lost earnings, as she was recognized as a victim of irregularities in the conduct of a competition for researchers, which instead favored the victory of Valentina Stipani daughter of a faculty professor.

• Esamopoli. In April 2008, arrests were made at the faculty of economics during the investigation into the "Esamopoli" investigation, concerning an alleged round of buying and selling exams and degree theses starting from 2005. According to the accusations of the prosecutor of Bari, the total turnover was around fifty thousand euros, and each exam had a price between 700 and three thousand euros. As part of the trial, the University of Bari filed a civil action. Given that the facts dated back to 2005/2006, in 2016 the Court of Bari accepted the request of the Public Prosecutor not proceed with the charges for 23 defendants. With the new rector Petrocelli in 2007, a code of ethics was approved by the Academic Council, which however has no binding value.

• Investigation on teaching staff competitions. In October 2013, the university was involved in the investigation of the Bari Public Prosecutor's Office called Do ut des, an investigation that concerns alleged irregularities in public competitions for first and second level teachers of ecclesiastical, constitutional and comparative public law and also involves five other universities.

• PhD scandal. In October 2014, the press reported an investigation by the Guardia di Finanza relating to alleged irregularities in competitions held in 2009. The fact caused a sensation because it would also involve the regional coordinator of the Democratic Party and ex-senator Giovanni Procacci and the former Minister of Forza Italia Anna Maria Bernini.

• Scam in admission tests. On January 20, 2015, the Court of Bari issued a first-degree sentence against university staff and some of its students following the investigation launched in 2007 and concerning the alleged fraud in the admission tests to some degree courses of the Faculty of Medicine.

• Scandal in the Department of Law. On 9 July 2015, the Guardia di Finanza ordered a personal precautionary measure suspending a professor of comparative constitutional law. The decision was made by the investigating judge of the Bari Court. The teacher would be investigated for embezzlement, forgery, abuse of office and fraud, together with seven other suspects. The measure is part of the investigation called "Do ut des" on the alleged "illegal management of research funds destined for projects of significant national interest". The ban was then canceled by the Court of Cassation on 2 December 2015.

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Died	Nationality	Summary	Description
Aldo Moro	23 September 1916	9 May 1978	Italy		Italian politician, former PM, assassinated by Operation Gladio
Salvatore Rossi	6 January 1949		Italy	Economist Central banker	Italian central banker who attended the 2018 Bilderberg.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.