18 - Democracy and Dictatorship

Summary

Two reasons explain this remarkable activity at Cluj University. One was the selection of teaching staff for the university, made by the most brilliant teachers, N. Iorga, V. Pârvan, and Sextil Puşcariu from the School of Letters and Philosophy, Ţiţeica and Pompei from the School of Sciences, and Gheorghe Marinescu and Cantacuzino from the School of Medicine. The second cause was the enthusiasm generated by the Union of all Romanians in a single state. Animated by this, the new teachers made every effort to fulfill the dream of Transylvanian Romanians of having their own university. The dream started with the Latinist school in Blaj and continued with Avram Iancu, Simion Bărnuţiu, and the Memorandist fighters. Simion Bărnuţiu, Treboniu Laurian, Densuşianu, Tr. Lalescu, S. Mândrescu, I. Bianu and many others taught at the universities in Bucharest and Iaşi.

At the same time, a number of teachers from those two universities came to Cluj to honor their duty toward liberated Transylvania. In the first years, Iorga, Gheorghe Ţiţeica, D. Pompei, and others came to give lectures. The speech of the first rector, Sextil Puşcariu, and Vasile Pârvan's inaugural lesson, stand witness to this enthusiasm, which bore fruit in the efforts of this institution.

On the other hand, the country's democratic structure, with its climate of freedom, proved to be advantageous for didactic and scientific activity. Politics couldn't make its way into the university, no matter what the struggle was like between the democratic parties of the times, which succeeded each other in government. When he got elected the second time as rector of the university, Professor Goangă got most of of the votes from the National Peasants’ Party members, not just those of the members of the Liberal Party to which he belonged. And that in spite of the fact that his counter-candidate was Professor Racoviţă. His objective and just leadership in his first five-year term carried more weight than the incomparably greater scientific weight that Professor Racoviţă carried, who, during his own term as rector, had less organizational capacity, as well as, maybe, less understanding of the petty concerns of the various departments. Professor Goangă, on the other hand, erected the majestic building of the new clinics, the Botanical Institute, the History Institute, the new psychology institute building, the University House, and more.