Established 38 years since March 1st, 1981, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) has obtained a lot of national and international achievements. UMY now should attempts to confront future challenges to maintain the quality.
In a remark Malam Refleksi (Reflection Night) on Tuesday evening (28/2) at Sportorium of UMY, Chairperson of Daily Advisor Board (BPH) of UMY Prof. Dr. H. Syamsul Anwar, M.A. expressed that he was grateful for UMY’s achievement as one of the best universities in Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY). He also told that UMY is included in three Muhammadiyah-affiliated higher education institution accredited A.
“We may take a look the theory of Ibnu Khaldun stating the peak of glory is at the age of 40. Afterwards, the institution will be in decline. However, what Ibnu Khhaldun mentioned on the dynastic era is different from the condition of higher education nowadays,” Syamsul added.
He advised that UMY may not be inattentive to competition among universities. “Our quality and quantity may not alleviate, and we go forward. However, other institutions may develop more rapidly. That should be a concern. I wish at the age of 36 UMY can run further,” Syamsul hoped.
Syamsul also expected that UMY as a MUhmmadiyah educational institution could always pay attention on Catur Dharma perguruan tinggi Muhammadiyah (the Four Principles of Muhammadiyah higher education), namely education, research, community service, as well as Isamic and Muhammadiyah development. Hence, UMY should maintain togetherness (ukhuwah) and mutual cooperation (ta’awun) among academicians.
Another challenge for UMY is how the academicians always conform to UMY’s tagline ‘Unggul dan Islami’ (Islamic and Excellent). “Sciences and religion do not always go hand in hand. For instance, Christian clergy tried to chase European scientists. In Islam era, the condition is not the same, but is does not mean that the conflicts between religion and sciences do not exist. For example, Al-Ghazali considered that theories proposed by Ibnu Sina and other scientists are a deviation against religion. Therefore, UMY should be able to unite religion and sciences,” Syamsul asserted.
