Ramses Vargas took over as rector of the Autonomous University of the Caribbean in Colombia three years ago. He found the university in a state of disrepair due to corruption and embezzlement under previous leadership. Vargas implemented reforms to improve infrastructure, hire qualified professors, and introduce new academic programs focused on skills like critical thinking. As a result of Vargas' leadership, the university has been financially stabilized and transformed into one of the top institutions in the country.

1. Ramses Vargas. The lawyer who
recovered the Autonomous University of
the Caribbean.
A lawyer who dodged the bombs in Kabul and Iraq managed to recover in 3 years the
Autonomous University of the Caribbean. The work has been 'pharaonic'.
Mr. Ramses Vargas
Some years ago Barranquilla in Colombia was hurt. A dagger of corruption, embezzlement and
paramilitarism had severed the soul and spirit of one of the main centers of higher education in
the city, the Autonomous University of the Caribbean. The country still remembers the dark page
that the former president wrote during her term between 2003 and 2012.
However, what is worth highlighting today is that Ramsés Vargas, son of one of the founders of
the Autonomous, took the reins of the rectory and three years later it had given a 180 degrees
turn. Of course, what he found was anything but a university.
An example among many documented by the Office of the Prosecutor and the authorities: in an
effort to take economic advantage of the needs of the students, the chair of English had been
delivered to a third party. "The boys had to go to an adjoining building to take very poor English
classes and apart from that they were charged for it. In general, they stole a lot of money and
gave us the University as a car without wheels, "says the rector, who has studies at Harvard and
Oxford.

2. Some particularities show the crisis that this University was going through, the same one from
where illustrious people like the designer Silvia Tcherassi and the chronicler Alberto Salcedo
Ramos left. For example, the first time that some students learned about research groups was
when the Office of the Prosecutor, in some of its processes, arrived at the university by
implicated executives; the talented teachers had in their 'north' go to another institution,
especially the other large one in Barranquilla. Not to mention the banks, which did not have in
mind to lend any money to an institution that was falling apart and whose bathrooms looked like
latrines.
"I found an institution with a fractured soul and spirit. There were financial and academic
difficulties. Now the Autonomous is writing the history of how change is managed in a
university institution. Not only are there transformations in the infrastructure, there are also
academic achievements and a new corporate culture, "explains the rector.
And the achievements today are evident. No civilian paramilitaries circulate in its corridors, but
dozens of professors with doctorates and magister (see infographic). English classes are now
taught by the same university and by 60 native language teachers. The plan is that in 5 years all
students will be bilingual.
The facade of its main headquarters was modernized, the bathrooms were renovated and are now
at the height of the best shopping center in the city. The soul began to heal.
But the road has not been easy. Ramsés Vargas had to leave with a briefcase in his hand and
knock on the doors of the banks. "Some reminded me of past problems, but we were able to
show that we had a successful plan to move the University forward."
This is how the credit and confidence returned from the hand of students eager to live the change
and the new Autonomous. "A few years ago I was awarded a scholarship for my talent in karate.

3. I could choose any university in the Caribbean and I came here two years ago because I trusted
the new administration, "says a fifth-year engineering student.
But not only with optimism, English and new bathrooms a battered university is arranged. One
of the keys of Ramses was to take forward an ambitious curricular reform. In the traditional
teaching programs included the training of students in matters related to the daily life of a
professional. For example, special emphasis is placed on aspects such as critical thinking,
literacy and conflict resolution.
This type of complementary training is the one that cries out for entrepreneurship, not only in
Barranquilla but throughout the country, as the new professionals connect with the daily
problems they face.
To all this is added the headquarters of the Autonomous University in Miami, United States. In
previous years, this teaching center - founded in 1979 - operated in a garage. Vargas gave it a
complete turn and is an accredited platform in that country. The Autonomous University uses it
to send their students and open their minds to the world. "I want my students to get their
passport, travel and know the world," he explains.
The goal of Ramsés Vargas is to locate the Autónoma as one of the best in the country. To do
this, it must improve on topics such as research and innovation projects. The road has already
begun.
The students
The resurgence of the Autonomous could not come at a better time. Barranquilla experiences a
golden age due to the arrival of new companies, foreign investment, improvement of the port,
navigability of the river and a couple of successful district administrations. Some graduates
already set an example. This is the case of Laila Páez, a barranquillera who being only 23 years
old is already an entrepreneur.
Laila - through her firm Hamsa - sells bathing suits and clothes that change color when they
receive ultraviolet rays, harmful to health. "That type of fabrics already exists in the market,
what we did in Hamsa was to treat those textiles so that the tone of the clothes changes as UV
rays increase. If a father sees that his daughter's dress changed color, he already knows that he
should remove her from the sun" she explains. Brands such as Gef and Offcorss are negotiating
with Hamsa possible alliances for informal and children's clothing.
In Barranquilla, good things are happening. It is already possible to roll by the circumvallation
and some streams were channeled, although others are missing. Despite the fact that poverty and
lack of infrastructure persist, new entrepreneurs disembark every month and things start to take
shape, among them the Autonomous University.

4. Pharaonic work
Ramses Vargas had to deal with the frequent bombings in the streets of Kabul, the capital of
Afghanistan, when he was representative of the United Nations in 2009. His mission was to
recover the devastated economy of that country with productive and viable projects. He did the
same in Iraq between 2010 and 2012.
This type of experience served him when he arrived at the Autonomous University and was the
object of death threats due to his new management at the University. He has also served as a
lawyer, obtained at the Universidad de la Sabana, as well as a specialization in financial
management from Javeriana. Vargas also has a master's degree in Public Administration from
Harvard and a master's degree in public policy from the University of Oxford. He has also
worked at Usaid, the IDB and was executive director of Acopi between 2002 and 2005.