Palace of Autonomy: UNAM

The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico lasted from 1551 until it was renamed the University of Mexico after Mexican independence was achieved. It was still not a bastion of free liberal thinking.  The original university was officially abolished by Maximilian in 1865. But several professional schools acted as successors in more secularized versions appropriate to the era. These were eventually united again as the University of Mexico in 1910. Already by 1914, at the height of the Mexican Revolution, students and faculty were in constant conflict with the government, which was also, always, very close at hand. By the 1920s José Vasconcelos would become rector, but waves of student strikes would wrack the university, often over government mandates or what was perceived as government interference. Strikes involved classroom walkouts and often drew police responses. Students increasingly drew support from faculty and administration. In 1929, intense negotiations with the government eventually cut the ties that bound the University to the Ministry of Public Education and the university rector could act without fear of repercussion from the government. Faculty, researchers, and students could too.