The Regulations for the University Extension Centers were approved, which included the following centers:  The Teaching Center, The Foreign Language Center, Musical Initiation, and the University Center for Film Studies. 

The term of the Rector, Javier Barros Sierra, concluded.  May 2nd, Dr. Pablo González Casanova, was appointed rector.  The Secretary General was Manuel Madrazo Garamendi, a graduate from Chemistry.  The student population, which since 1969 was more than 100,000 students, reached 107, 056 students this year, freshmen students making up 30, 465 of them.  The female population increased to 23, 879 students. 

A petition for amnesty for political university prisoners, which was promoted by the Director was presented and approved.  The new Statutes for Academic Personnel (EPA) was characterized by its unifying teachers and researchers. 

New centers, such as the Center for Mayan Studies and Research in Applied Mathematics, Systems and Services, stood out.  Within the scope of cultural dissemination, the choreographer Gloria Contreras founded the Choreographic Workhop of the UNAM.  On December 1st, Luis Echeverría Alvarez, was sworn in as President of Mexico.  That same month, by presidential decree, the National Council of Science and Technology was created. 

The University Council approved the creation of the College of Sciences and Humanities on January 25th, within the Preparatory system, and the Regulations for the Academic Unit of the High School System of the aforementioned College.  The Teaching Center coordinated courses as part of its duties that were given by specialists in each subject.

As well, educators established new teaching methods which they would develop in the newly created center, and at the same time select their educational personnel.  Campuses were opened in Azcapotzalco, Naucalpan and Vallejo, which were up and working in April.  As such, the student population increased. 

The College of Directors of Schools and Colleges was organized and its Regulations approved.  The Center for Instrumentation and the Center for Scientific and Humanistic Information were created.

At the end of May, a conflict emerged between the government of Nuevo León and the Autonomous University of the State.  The student body requested support at the federal level.  In Mexico City, there was a positive response from student groups at the UNAM and at the National Polytechnic Institute. 

The agitation grew during the first days of June and a large demonstration was organized for June 10th in the areas near Santo Tomás, mainly on the Ribera de San Cosme (Avenue).  In spite of the fact that the news of governor Elizondo’s resignation had spread, the demonstration still took place.  It had just begun when the students were attacked <by a paramilitary group denominated "the hawks.” 

The police had surrounded the area from North Insurgentes Avenue and Manuel González.  No one took responsibility for the attack and the existence of the paramilitary group was denied.  The Chief of Police, Flores Curiel, as well as the Head of the Administration of the Federal District immediately resigned. 

It was never determined who was responsible for the acts.  The only certain victims were the fallen youth.  The following political crisis strengthened the President, who received the backing of known intellectuals, who pointed out the alternative, "Echeverría or fascism." 

The President, little by little, shaped his politics, as well as his personal style of governing, as a radical separation from his predecessor.  In international politics he leaned towards the possibility of forming an independent block and strengthening the Third World.  In internal politics populism was reborn. 

In a short time, he granted amnesty to the political prisoners of 1968 and even called some of them to work in the government. 

The budget overflow to universities was generous.  In the UNAM the College of Sciences and Humanities is an example of this.  During these years, the number of students enrolled was on the increase.  Moreover, other public spaces in upper and higher education were opened. 

On August 15th, Javier Barros Sierra, died, undoubtedly one of the greatest rectors in university history.  In November, the Union of Workers and Employees of the UNAM (STEUNAM) was formed which presented their registration application to labor authorities. 

The authorities and a large part of the teaching force refused the existence of a collective contract containing exclusive clauses inside the UNAM, since these could threaten university autonomy.  Administrative changes took place:  The General Office of School Services became the Center for School Administration, the General Office for Academic and Administrative Personnel was created, which included the former Personnel Office and the Office for Faculty and Teachers, which ceased to exist. 

Lastly, the Technical Commission for University Project Implementation began to operate.

Overall, it was a problematic year for the University in terms of academic and administrative concerns. The regulations for Public Film Projections in the UNAM, and the Statutes for Open University System were approved. 

A movement inside the School of Architecture, began which allowed for self-governing among teachers and students, which kept it paralyzed during some time.  At first, the Secretary of Labor and Social Security denied register to the STEUNAM, stating that the University was not an administrative business, and as such, there were no labor relations between it and its workers. 

This happened between February and May.  Later, a district tribunal in administrative matters granted protection to the Union, in light of the Secretary’s refusal to register the union.  This offered hope to the organization, which kept on fighting. 

Meanwhile, a group led by Mario Falcón and Miguel Castro Bustos, using the admission of Normal (School) students to the UNAM as as a excuse, took control of the rectory and possession of University City, interrupting classes and threatening internal stability.  Both leaders paraded dangerous armament.  For 60 days, it was impossible to evict them. 

The Director worked out of a building belonging to the National Preparatory School, at 16, Justo Sierra (street).  Research work continued, but teaching came to a stand still.  Finally, the delinquents left CU, one of them to exile in Panama, while the other remained hidden.  Some time later, both were imprisoned. 
 
At the end of September, the Nuclear Laboratory was transformed into the Center for Nuclear Studies.  The following month, the STEUNAM requested the signing of a collective contract, summoning to strike on the 25th.  In view of the rector’s negative reply, the Union declared the first strike not declared by students. 

There were union antecedents in the UNAM in the mid 1930´s.  The Director presented a 10-point proposal to resolve the conflict, which was not accepted by the STEUNAM.  In November, González Casanova presented his resignation, which was not accepted.  A month later he resigned again, but this time irrevocably. 

Among the last academic acts, the Office of the Open University System (SUA) and the Permanent School of Extension of San Antonio, Texas (EPESA), in a space donated to the UNAM by the city of San Antonio, were created.  This school made the presence of the UNAM permanent who since 1944 had given classes once a year. 

This implied having a permanent staff of teachers dedicated to teaching Spanish and Mexican culture, to United States citizens and Mexican residents.  Also, this year, two more campuses of the College of Sciences and Humanities, the South and East campus, began giving classes.

On January 3rd, the Board of Regents appointed as Rector, Dr. Guillermo Soberón Acevedo, who had been the Coordinator of Scientific Research.  On the 8th, he was sworn into office in the parking lot of the College of Medicine, inside a University that had suffered a strike, from the union’s perspective, or an illegal stoppage of labor, from the university’s perspective.  Sergio Domínguez Vargas was named Secretary General of the University. 

On the 15th, the Union lifted the strike.  In February, a collective employment agreement, not a contract, was signed which would govern labor relations between workers and university administration.  The University Council ratified the agreement in the February 13th session. 

The College of Psychology was formed, separating itself from the College of Philosophy and Letters. Similarly, the Department of Ocean Sciences and Limnology, within the Institute of Biology, became its own independent center.  The National School of Social Work was separated from the College of Law. 

The National School of Trade and Administration changed its name to the College of Accounting and Management.  Two new humanities institutes emerged as well, Anthropological Research, which was part of Historical Research, and Filological Research, which united four centers under the College of Humanities:  Hispanic Linguistics, Classical Studies, Mayan Studies and Literary Studies. 

The General Office for University Outreach and the Technical Commission for University Legislation were created.  The Press and Relations Office and the General Office of Vocational Orientation and Social Services were restructured, which gave way to the General Office of Vocational Orientation and Socio-cultural Activities, in addition to the Coordinating Commission for Integral Social Services.  The Center for Research in Applied Mathematics and Systems and the Center for Computer Services were also restructured. 

The Internal Commission of Administration was a newly created area.  Sports activities changed its name to the General Office of Sport and Recreational Activities.  In the area of the Cultural Dissemination, the University Museum of the Chopo, that had been abandoned since the Museum of Natural History of Chapultepec began to operate, was opened.  The monthly newspaper The University Students began to be published. 
 
The orders to create the “Bachelors’ College” (preparatory high school) and the Metropolitan Autonomous University were given and the academic labors would begin the following year.  

The increase in student population was spectacular. With five different campuses of the College of Sciences and Humanities operating, student enrollment numbered 217,535, freshmen making up 65,370 students.  The female population numbered 62,054.  On February 19th, the creation of the National School of Professional Studies (ENEP) in Cuautitlán was approved. 

It was a new school model, with its own administration and with independent majors within the traditional schools and colleges.  Months later, the University Council also approved the creation of ENEPs in Acatlán and Iztacala.  The Statutes for Academic Personnel underwent reforms. 

Among these reforms, the categories of Associate and Titular were established, with the levels A, B, and C for each one.  Academic personnel were reclassified according to the new categories and levels. 

The Union of Academic Personnel of the UNAM (SPAUNAM) was formed, with an affiliation of 2,131 members.  In September, the Collegiate Tribunal in labor matters revoked the protection it had granted to the STEUNAM.  In November the first revision of the Collective Work Agreement of the STEUNAM took place.  For their part, the SPAUNAM demanded the signing of a collective contract and the right for Academic Personnel to form a union be recognized. 

The University Council agreed to turn the petition over to the Commissions of Academic Labor and University Legislation.  The program to decentralize professional studies was also approved, which supported the newly created ENEPs.  Lastly, the General Office of Planning as well as the Technical Commission for Studies and Legislative Projects was created.

On March 14th, the President of the Republic, Luis Echeverría, inaugurated the school year, as was the custom until the government of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz.  The act took place at the College of Medicine, where a multitude attended.  At the end of the ceremony a rock hit the forehead of the head of state.

The ENEPs (National School of Professional Studies) in Acatlán and Iztacala were inaugurated and began their activities.  Dentistry was converted into a College and it was agreed that other ENEPs be created, in this case, those of Aragón and Zaragoza.

  The Program for Library Research was established and a new space was opened in the UNAM:  the City of Scientific Research, which would house the College of Sciences, which moved its traditional statue of Prometheus to its new building, along with all the institutes and centers of scientific research, with the exception of the Institute of Biomedical Research and the Center for Research in Applied Mathematics and Systems.

  The freed spaces on the original campus were assigned for offices, the College of Sciences, and the Science Tower became Tower II of Humanities, with the Institutes of Economic Research, Social and Philological Research, the Humanities Coordinator’s Office, and the new auditorium Mario de la Cueva.  Other spaces, like the one left by the Institute of Geophysics, were used by the Institute of Anthropological Research and the Foreign Language Center.

The union disagreement with the teachers continued.  The problem began with a summon to strike in demand of a collective work contract and a salary increase of 40 percent, retroactive to November 1, 1974. The Director Soberón offered a periodic salary revision according to what was written in the Statutes. 

The University Council decided that there would be no signing of the collective agreement with the SPAUNAM and agreed that a section be added to the Statutes for Academic Personnel (EPA) with the title “union conditions for academic personnel.”  In response the union had a work stoppage for 24 hours on June 11th.  Five days later the announced strike broke out which lasted from the 16th to the 25th and was considered an illegal suspension of labors. 

The SPAUNAM got its recognition and accepted that every two years the revision of the chapter of union conditions of the EPA be carried out.  At the same time, autonomous associations of academic personnel arose which rejected the unionization of the faculty. 

On June 18th, a coordinating council of the organizations was formed.  The University Council approved Title XIII of union conditions, subscribed to by representatives of the UNAM, of the SPAUNAM, and the Autonomous Associations of Academic Personnel (AAPAUNAM).

When registering the new student enrollment, the freshmen students made up 79,608 of the whole school population, which was a total of 271,266.  Women made up 93,686 of the population.  Two new institutes enriched scientific research:  that of Engineering separated from the Graduate School Division of the College of Engineering and the Institute of Research in Applied Mathematics and Systems (IIMAS) changed from being a Center. 

The Director Soberón promoted an addition to the constitutional article 123, consisting in a "section C," which would specify the labor relationships in the universities. The initiative woke up enthusiasm in the educational sector, but there was no official answer. It also caused opposition, mainly, from the union sector. 

At the end of 1975, sectors of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) supported José López Portillo, Secretary of the Treasury, as candidate for president.  The electoral day went on without any obvious opponents.  Before the last presidential address, a devaluation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar was announced, without specifying parity.  The inflationary process was on the rise. 

In the UNAM, a new collective agreement was signed with the STEUNAM (Union of Workers and Employees), to go into effect on November 1st.  On the 16th, a salary increase for administrative personnel was announced.  With regard to academic personnel, in the last months of the year, the process of accreditation for the revision of Title XIII of the EPA was completed. 

The SPAUNAM had 3,549 members and the AAPAUNAM, 5,139, making them the principle union.  The SPAUNAM requested registration with the Secretary of Labor and presented a collective contract project that included academic aspects. Meanwhile, the Center for Studies on the University (CESU) was created to coordinate the historical file of the UNAM. 

The General Administration Office changed names to the Office of Program Budgets.  Auxiliary Services were redefined and the Commission for Studies on Academic Costs (CECA) was established. 

The Academic Unit for Professional and Graduate Studies (UACPyP) of the College of Sciences and Humanities was created.  The year closed with a spectacular event:  on December 30th, the first concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra was given in the UNAM in the Nezahualcóyotl theatre, the first space of the University Cultural Center.

Dr. Guillermo Soberón Acevedo was elected Director of the university for a second term of four years.  Dr. Fernando Pérez Correa was named Secretary General.   President López Portillo headed the elaboration of a National Plan of Education. 

In February, the regulations for the Reporting Commission of Academic Personnel of the UNAM were published, even if they had already existed, there were no rules which regulated their activities.  The Center for Atmospheric Sciences began its research activities.

At the beginning of the talks to establish union conditions for academic personnel, the SPAUNAM withdrew, given its minority presence.  However, they summoned to strike on February 7th, if the UNAM did not sign a collective contract.  In the meantime, the UNAM and the AAPAUNAM signed the agreement reached in Title XIII of the EPA. 

The Director rejected the summons to strike, considering it illegal.  The STEUNAM and the SPAUNAM fused together under the name STUNAM.  They presented a single collective contract project-without differentiating between academic and administrative work- threatening to strike on June 20th. 

The ANUIES (National Association of Institutions and Universities of Higher Education) stated in Guadalajara that it was necessary to legislate on labor relations between universities and their personnel.  In Monterrey, the Federation of Unions of University Workers united and announced their support for the strike outlined by the STUNAM.  When June came around, the tension increased:  the Director maintained a firm position by declaring illegal the union’s pretense of wanting to control the university; the union, for its part, maintained its position to go on strike. 

The STUNAM declared the institutional proposals to be insufficient.  On the 20th the strike broke out.  Both sides remained firm in their positions.  The UNAM began to open spaces in incorporated schools and through the television on the 27th. 

The Federal Board of Reconciliation and Arbitration declared the strike to be an “illegal suspension of labors and that the university was free to whatever measures it deemed pertinent.  On July 10th the university authorities and union representation reached an agreement.  The former recognized the latter as a representative of administrative workers and established that, with respect to the academic personnel, they would continue being governed by title XIII of the EPA. 

With this the conflict came to an end.  The later reform to the 3rd constitutional article, promoted by President López Portillo, was the true solution to the problem.

During the rest of the year the separation of the University Center for Cinematographic Studies (CUEC) and the Film Library of the UNAM took place, that would depend on the recently created Office of University Extension, in charge of regulating the different extension centers and entities dedicated to cultural dissemination. 

The Executive Secretary of the Council of Graduate Studies and the Center for Research and Educational Services  (CISE) were created, which had their antecedent in the Teaching Center and the General Office of Academic Exchange and Academic Personnel Concerns.  The General Supply Office changed names and the General Auxiliary Secretary changed its name to the General Administrative Secretary. 

In this way, the university subsystems were structured to include academic, administrative, legal, scientific research, humanistic research, and university extension departments, whose heads would make up the collaborative body which would depend directly on the rector. 

As a consequence of the administrative restructuring of the previous year, there were new adjustments:  Radio UNAM went from being a department to a General Office. Temporary Courses was transformed into the General Office of Academic Extension, which would coordinate the School for Foreigners, the EPESA and outreach activities in different sections of the Mexico City. 

The Department of Book Distribution became the University Book Distributor, as a General Office category, under the Office of University Extension.  The Alumni Association of the College of Engineering sponsored a philharmonic orchestra called the Music Academy of the Palacio de Minería (Mining Palace).  The year went by in frank academic recovery.

On February 11th, the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of university autonomy began with a solemn ceremony in which honorary doctorates were awarded to distinguished persons in Science, Humanities and the Arts.  Among those receiving awards were Claude Levi Strauss, Alexander Oparin, Octavio Paz, Rufino Tamayo, Alejandro Gómez Arias and Edmundo O'Gorman.  Work began at the Center for Research in Cellular Physiology. 

On February 26th, the Theater Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and the Forum Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in the University Cultural Center were inaugurated.  On April 23rd the Sculpture Space was inaugurated as well, designed by Helen Escobedo, Federico Silva, Manuel Felguérez, Hersúa, Sebastián and Matías Goeritz.  In September the Astronomical Observatory in San Pedro Martir, in Baja California, began to function. 

The Center for Materials Research was promoted to the category of Institute.  The new facilities for the National Library and Newspaper Library were inaugurated by President López Portillo on December 3rd; they would house the Institute for Bibliographic Research and the Center for Studies on the University (CESU).

  The Coordinating and Disseminating Center for Latin American Studies was created.  The University Center for Visiting Professors and the University Center for Production and Audiovisual Resources opened their doors.  The Technical Commission for Studies and Legislative Projects became a General Office.