The Latin American Education Center [Centro Educativo Latinoamericano] (CEL) in the city of Rosario, Argentina, is celebrating 150 years of existence. The school was founded as the American College on May 28, 1875, by The Reverend Thomas Wood for the education of women. It received the support of the Women’s Division of the Episcopal Methodist Church, which sent young teachers Luise Denning and Jennie Chapin from the United States to start this educational project. These first teachers had been trained under the influence of Horace Mann’s pedagogical methods and began teaching five students in Rosario: Adela Peyronel, Carlota, an orphan girl named Laura, Elsie Wood, and Amy Wood.
As with many other Methodist schools being created at that time in Latin America (such as the Instituto Madero in Mexico, established in 1874, and the Piracicabano School, established in 1881 in Brazil), the formation provided by the school stressed values such as freedom, democracy, citizenship, and women’s rights. In 1890, the school Director, Mary Swaney, stated that “our commitment is to contribute to the building of a community, a commitment to one another, based on openness and service inside and outside the building for an open, democratic, and neighbor-respecting society.”
In the early 20th century, the school became a coeducational school and the first boy to graduate was Federico Pagura, who went on to study at the Evangelical Theological School (later ISEDET) in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and then at the Union Theological Seminary in New York and the Claremont School of Theology (United States) to become Bishop in Panama, Costa Rica, and Argentina. As the leading Bishop of the Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church, Pagura was the founder and President of the Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights in Argentina, becoming one of the leading figures in human rights advocacy in Argentina, Chile, and Latin America. He thus put into practice what he had learned in school during his childhood in Rosario.
Eventually, reflecting the Latin American context, the Latin American School and, later on, the Latin American Education Center (CEL). However, the institution continued its tradition as an educational community with a long tradition of openness and pluralistic dialogue. As part of its mission and identity, the school curriculum addresses issues such as discrimination based on sex, gender identity, ethnic origin, religion, or thought. It also teaches its students to respect freedom, and value diverse cultural, political, and religious traditions in an ecumenical and interfaith perspective. Since the 1970s, the school has also provided services to students with special educational needs. The school also created a new campus, the “Comunidad Educativa La Paz” (CELP) which serves an impoverished community in the city of Rosario. Eventually, the school also spun off the “Universidad del Centro Educativo Latinoamericano” (UCEL).
To celebrate its 150 years, the Latin American Educational Center (CEL) has been promoting a full month of celebrations with various academic, cultural, and religious activities. The President of the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU), Adriana Murriello, has expressed her recognition to CEL during this important historical moment, highlighting the fact that this was the second Methodist school established in Latin America. Similarly, Roland Fernandes, the General Secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) and the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), stated that “in its 150 years, the Latin American Educational Center has contributed to the education of individuals who have dedicated their lives to art, science, teaching, politics, and economics” and is now serving as headquarters for the Latin American Association of Methodist Institutions of Education (ALAIME).