Unicamp approves granting of an honorary doctorate to writer Conceição Evaristo.

For the first time, Unicamp will grant an Honorary Doctorate to a black woman. Put to a vote in the University Council (Consu) this Tuesday (4), the proposal from the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) in recognition of the writer, poet and professor from Minas Gerais, Conceição Evaristo, received unanimous approval and a standing ovation after the announcement of the result. The Uruguayan biochemist Rafael Radi, with an important contribution to Latin American science, also had his name approved after a request from representatives of the Institute of Biology (IB). The ceremonies for awarding the titles will still be scheduled.

*Read moreOne of the leading voices in Afro-Brazilian literature, Conceição Evaristo, teaches at the University*.

During the presentation of the proposal to name the university after Conceição Evaristo, expressions of support from representatives of different units of the University were evident. Participants highlighted the author's relevance to Brazilian literature, her contribution to the debate on race relations, and the institutional significance of the tribute. "It is truly a very valuable moment for all of us," stated the rector, Paulo Cesar Montagner.

The general coordinator of Unicamp, Fernando Coelho, stated that the IEL initiative represents a recognition not only of Conceição Evaristo's importance to national literature, but also of her contribution to reflection on race relations in Brazil. "The tribute takes on a special meaning by recognizing a Black intellectual in a context marked by the historical erasure of the intellectual production of the Black population," he said. As an example, he cited the whitewashing of the image of the writer Machado de Assis throughout history.

Coelho also noted that Black women face specific challenges, often being rendered invisible, and argued that universities have a responsibility to publicly recognize trajectories that have contributed to the construction of national identity and culture.

Professor Petrilson Alan Pinheiro da Silva, director of the IEL, emphasized that the approval of the proposal represents institutional recognition of a Black woman whose work has transformed contemporary Brazilian literature. The nomination was built collectively and involved the work of a committee responsible for drafting the report that justified the tribute. In addition to the positive handling by the collegiate bodies, the IEL also approved a motion of support for granting the title, a measure that Silva described as unprecedented and which demonstrates the broad consensus surrounding the honoree.

“Conceição Evaristo has become a reference for generations of readers, especially for those who historically did not see themselves represented in Brazilian literature. The writer recovers and updates the Afro-Brazilian oral tradition by claiming the right of Black people to narrate their own stories, broadening the debate about the right to literature not only as access to works, but also as the right to literary production,” the professor stated.

Silva recalled the author's national and international recognition, quoting verses from the poem "Da calma e do silêncio" (Of Calm and Silence) , which inspired the title of the 36th São Paulo Biennial, held in 2025. "Not every traveler walks roads; there are submerged worlds that only the silence of poetry can penetrate," she concluded.

History

The director of the Faculty of Education (FE), Professor Débora Cristina Jeffrey, described the approval of the proposal as a historic moment for the University. She stated that the tribute goes beyond the individual recognition of the writer and represents the appreciation of the intellectual production of Black authors, whose contribution has broadened the debate on identity, memory, and ancestry. “Conceição Evaristo's work reaffirms the importance of Afro-Brazilian roots and ancestral memory,” she pointed out. As an example, she mentioned a passage from the book *Olhos d'Água *, published in 2014, in which the writer establishes connections between the maternal figure, the symbolism of Oxum (a deity in Afro-Brazilian religions, known as the orixá of fresh waters, love, and wealth), and the construction of Black identity.

According to the director of the Faculty of Education, the awarding of the title of Doctor Honoris Causa reaffirms Unicamp's commitment to recognizing individuals whose work contributes to the transformation of Brazilian society and represents the result of a collective effort from different departments of the University.

Justice

Representing the technical-administrative staff, council member Reginaldo Alves, from the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH) and former student of IEL, added that the tribute represents a recognition, albeit belated, of Conceição Evaristo's contribution to Brazilian literature and to the appreciation of Black literature in the country. “The writer redefines the contours of contemporary Brazilian literature and challenges the historical limits of representation in the cultural field. Her work combines aesthetic excellence with intervention in public debate by giving centrality to historically silenced experiences,” he defined. For the council member, the granting of the title represents not only an individual tribute, but an institutional gesture of valuing diversity, social memory, and symbolic justice in national culture.

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