Engineer Ignacio Bonillas was nominated as presidential candidate and began his campaign in March. The following month General Obregón was called to testify in the trial of General Roberto Cejudo, with whom he supposedly had ties. In the meantime, on April 23rd, the governor of Sonora issued the Plan de Agua Prieta, which proposed the disavowal of the current government.

Carranza left Mexico City on May 6th and was assassinated in Tlaxcalantongo, Puebla on the 21st of the same month. Also in May, Balbino Dávalos was appointed as acting president of the University, while Pablo González' forces held the capital.

When the rebellion triumphed, Congress appointed Adolfo de la Huerta as acting president. "I am not here to work for the University," said Vasconcelos during his inaugural discourse as University president, "but to ask the University to work for the people." Although his major goal was to seek the federalization of education as a first step to what would eventually become the Ministry of Public Education, his presidency left many permanent marks, such as the reintegration of the National Preparatory High School to the University, the beginning of a national literacy campaign which included women, a campaign to teach personal and general hygiene, and tuition-fee exemption for poor students.

In the meantime, Ezequiel A. Chávez was preparing the federalization project. At the beginning of this year, the University entered an age of vitality that was unlike any previous period. On December 1st, Álvaro Obregón became the next Mexican president.

One of Vasconcelos' most long-lasting contributions to the University took place this year: the creation of the institution's coat of arms with the image of an eagle and a condor surrounding a map of Latin America, from Mexico's northern border to Cabo de Hornos and the motto, "The Spirt shall speak for my race."

The educational text books project also dates from this year. It would eventually be taken over by the Ministry of Education. The Summer School and the Department of Exchange and University Extension were established, and Pedro Henríquez Ureña became their director.

The International Student Congress was inaugurated on September 20th at the Anfitheater Bolívar. Some outstanding participants were the Argentine Arnaldo Orfila Reynal and the Mexican, Daniel Cosío Villegas. The National Preparatory High School decoration process began, with murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Fernando Leal and Jean Charlot.

After a national tour by Vasconcelos, the state legislatures approved the constitutional reform that would create the Ministry of Public Education, of which the University would become a dependency. On October 10th, Vasconcelos became Minister of Education. Antonio Caso was appointed University president after Secretary Mariano Silva y Aceves' brief acting period.

When engineer Sotero Prieto, an outstanding mathematics professor, refused to be head of the National Preparatory High School, Vasconcelos decreed himself head of the institution, and subsequently crisis ensued.

President Caso thought this was an peculiar act and presented his resignation, which was not accepted. Later on, Vicente Lombardo Toledano was appointed school director. The University was indeed a dependency of the Ministry and its actions required the agency's approval.

The University had become one of the cornerstones in General Obregón's national education project.

The old Scientific and Literary Institute of San Luis Potosí became the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí. There was a new problem at the National Preparatory High School because of the evident disagreements between Director Lombardo and Secretary Vasconcelos.

Lombardo's labor militancy was at the heart of the matter. Also, the institution's students were turning against the head of Education. Young Salvador Azuela was a high profile leader. Lombardo presented his resignation and, when Vasconcelos accepted it, Caso resigned again.

Pedro Henríquez Ureña, one of the most distinguished professors at the Summer and Higher Studies schools left the institutions along with Lombardo and Caso. In September, Obregón announced that the U.S. had recognized his government, something he had pursued since his arrival in power. This act was the result of the Bucareli agreements and coincided with the official selection of presidential candidate General Plutarco Elías Calles.

The Revenue Minister, Adolfo de la Huerta, was also up for a presidential candidacy, and therefore had to resign his post. Vasconcelos remained faithful to Obregón's government, although he did not lean towards Calles. Upon Caso's resignation, Ezequiel A. Chávez took over the University presidency.

Jurisprudence student Luis Rubio Siliceo presented a law initiative project to the Mexican Student Federation, once more seeking autonomy for the University. In September, this project would receive the support of 96 deputies headed by Doctor Pedro de Alba. The second campus of the National Preparatory High School was created.

Adolfo de la Huerta's December rebellion resulted in a considerable decrease in the generous budget previously destined for the Ministry of Public Education. Vasconcelos presented his resignation early in the year, but it was not accepted until July 2nd.

Doctor Bernardo J. Gastélum took over and asked University president Ezequiel A. Chávez to come up with a project that would ensure the institution's autonomy. Still, all efforts amounted to nothing.

On October 1st, the old School of Higher Studies split into the College of Philosophy and Literature, the National Teacher's School and the Graduate School; the Exact Sciences area became part of Philosophy and Literature.

General Plutarco Elías Calles came to power on December 1st and appointed José Manuel Puig Cassauranc Minister of Public Education. The University presidency was given to Doctor Alfonso Pruneda.

Vasconcelos' creative and aesthetic take on national education was replaced by the pragmatism of Education sub-Minister Moisés Sáenz. The major achievement of this administration was the founding of the Junior High School, decreed on December 31st.

This meant that the National Preparatory High School lost the first three years of High School education. Only the School of University Initiation remained, located in the second campus of the Preparatory High School.

On January 30th, the decree by former president Obregón, which officially established the College of Philosophy and Literature and the National Teacher's School, and changed the name of the College of Chemical Sciences into College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, was read at the University Council.

The student body recognized the intellectual leadership of José Vasconcelos, who had exiled himself to Europe. An initiative to allow non-successive presidential reelection was approved and General Obregón's candidacy was suggested.

A conflict between church and state known as the Cristero war began after the government decided to limit Catholic practice under the law. The Religious Freedom Defense League spearheaded urban resistance.

The conflict also took root in the rural areas of Zacatecas, Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán. The University's Code of University Libraries was approved.

Francisco Serrano, an old colleague of Obregón's, accepted the presidential candidacy. General Arnulfo R. Gómez ran with the support of the National Anti-reelection Party, which was headed by engineer Vito Alessio Robles.

In early October, Serrano prepared a military riot in which Obregón, Calles and General Amaro would be eliminated. The plan was discovered on October 4th while Serrano was celebrating his birthday in Cuernavaca; he and his supporters were captured and assassinated on the way to Mexico City.

A month later, General Gómez died in combat in Teocelo, Veracruz. Electoral opposition was eliminated. The Cristero war grew and intensified. Nothing particularly relevant took place within the University. The institution's autonomy continued to be an issue.

The Senate recognized the law initiative put forth by the National Student League, but it was not discussed. Architects Mauricio Campos and Marcial Gutiérrez Camarena presented a university campus plan as their professional thesis.

The projected Ciudad Universitaria (University City) was to be located in Huipulco. Later on, some land was bought in Lomas de Sotelo with the purpose of building a housing complex for university professors, but the project did not prosper.

Alvaro Obregón had already been elected president but was assassinated on July 17th at the restaurant La Bombilla, in San Angel. Appointing Emilio Portes Gil as acting president at the end of Plutarco Elías Calles' term, on December 1st, solved the political crisis.

Ezequiel Padilla was appointed Minster of Education and Antonio Castro Leal became University president.

he National Revolutionary Party or PNR was created in May. The "revolutionary forces" of the country gathered around it. Although Calles was not the official president, his leadership was evident: he was able to control national politics through the party.

A group of orthodox obregonista generals led by Gonzalo Escobar rose up in arms in northern Mexico, but strong military response defeated the rebels. Saturnino Cedillo was one of the outstanding generals. The Cristero movement declined after General Enrique Goroztieta was eliminated and the government sanctioned the return of some of the exiled church representatives.

Monsignor Pascual Díaz led the negotiations with Portes Gil, which resulted in the so-called "arrangements" between church and state. Pascual Ortiz Rubio, who until recently had been ambassador to Brazil, was appointed the PNR's presidential candidate.

José Vasconcelos announced his candidacy and began a national tour after having come back into the country through the northern border of Baja California. The student body and the middle class were excited by his candidacy.

In regards to the University, the code of quarterly recognitions was issued on February 27th. Two months later, University President Antonio Castro Leal declared that it was necessary to establish a system that could adequately measure student progress in the different schools, particularly in Law and the Social Sciences. The head of Jurisprudence, Narciso Bassols, announced a new grading system that resulted in fierce student protests.

On May 4th, law students convened in a general assembly. They appointed a provisional strike committee that would attempt to solve the problem by speaking to Education Minister Ezequiel Padilla. If they did not reach an agreement, the strike would officially start on May 12th. The University presidency announced that, if such a thing happened, the School of Jurisprudence would be closed down.

The students were unable to talk with the University president and had to communicate with the Secretary General, Daniel Cosío Villegas. The strike was declared on the 5th of May. Bassols threatened to expel the leaders. Given the continuing strike and the growing support for the law students, Portes Gil and Castro Leal personally announced, along with those that supported the movement, the closing of the school.

Subsequently, disorder and violence erupted in some institutions. On May 8th, in order to guarantee a meeting point, the University president allowed the students to use the High School amphitheater. The students agreed to send the president a document explaining the causes of the strike and suggested the appointment of an arbiter.

The following day, the National Student Confederacy, led by Alejandro Gómez Arias, asked its federations to support the student movement. A strike committee formed by Gómez Arias, Salvador Azuela, Carlos Zapata Vela and Ricardo García Villalobos, among others, was designated.

Castro Leal considered the conflict to be over, but the students, in the meantime, signed a pact of honor in which they pledged not to attend school. On the 11th, an Orientation Block was conceived as the polar opposite of the strikers. The students published a manifesto expressing their reasons and gave the University president a 48-hour ultimatum to form a problem-solving commission.

Portes Gil pointed out that the movement had a political streak, given that its main leaders, Gómez Arias and Azuela, were vasconcelistas. It was decided that Jurisprudence would be reopened on May 16th as long as the students re-enrolled, but none did. During the following days, students from other schools, including the Junior High and High Schools, Odontology and Medicine, joined the movement.

The police tried to forcefully break into the School of Medicine, which resulted in a huge student protest, violent clashes and wounded. Some University professors resigned their posts to protest the repression. Narciso Bassols also resigned. Portes Gil ordered the public forces to withdraw from the University buildings so that the students could deliberate freely.

The students in turn proposed the resignation of the educational authorities, including the University president, and the head of the metropolitan police, the re-incorporation of the Junior High Schools to the National Preparatory High School, and asked Portes Gil to elect a new University president from a group of candidates proposed by the University Council.

The Law students paid homage to those wounded on May 23rd, demanding that this day be remembered as "Student's Day" and that the Plaza de Santo Domingo be renamed "Plaza 23 de mayo." Portes Gil invited the students to negotiate with him. When they met on the 28th of May, the president agreed to give the University its autonomy, but refused to ask for the various administrative resignations. On June 1st, the University Council publicized its agreement regarding the institution's autonomy.

The Congress convened extraordinary sessions to discuss this initiative. On June 4th, the Deputy Chamber enabled the Executive to set the basis for autonomy, and the Senate did the same the following day. Portes Gil formulated the project for the Organic Law of the National Autonomous University.

The Strike Board made its objections public and demanded Castro Leal's resignation. On June 29th, the Board formed the University Professors and Students' League. On July 5th, the strike committee declared that if the autonomy law was approved the strike would end. The text of the Organic Law was finally made public on the 10th. It included 19 items, 6 chapters and 67 articles, 12 of which were transitory.

The following day the last session of the Strike Board took place. The end of the strike was formally declared and the University resumed normal activities. Ignacio García Téllez was appointed as acting University president from July 12th to August 1st. The new Organic Law, which gave the University a greater cohesion than it had ever had, was published in the Official Daily on the 26th.

The strike made the students aware of the fact that they belonged to both an institution and a profession. Certainly, the common National Preparatory High School background served as an element of cohesion, but the professional schools split them apart and gave them particular identities. For professors and administrators, the strike became the milestone that granted the University its desired autonomy.

It no longer depended on the Ministry of Education but responded directly to the president himself. The autonomy policy put an end to duplicity and redefined the University's structure. The School of Fine Arts (which included architecture, painting and sculpture) joined the other schools.

Chemical Sciences and Industries became the National School of Chemical Sciences, and the National School of Veterinary Medicine joined UNAM. With the establishment of research institutes such as Biology and Geology, what had previously been isolated dependencies became an integral part of the University.

The School of Medicine became the College of Medicine, just like Law and Social Sciences (within which an Economics section was established). In short, the University's contemporary profile was delineated in 1929. During the month of August the schools, colleges and institutes were assigned their directors and administrative personnel.

José López Lira was acting University president and, later on, Ignacio García Téllez took the position once again. The University Council approved the degrees which would be conferred by the institution: bachelors, Master in Science, Master in Fine Arts, Master in Literature, Master in Philosophy, Doctor in Science, Doctor in Fine Arts, Doctor in Literature and Doctor in Philosophy.

The presidential campaign garnered enthusiastic support among University members. Many vasconcelista leaders, such as Gómez Arias and Azuela, had indeed participated in the struggle for autonomy. But the winner was the PNR candidate, Pascual Ortiz Rubio.