WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:06.500 up a stack of documents that takes us to a very 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:09.080 specific and honestly a really fascinating corner 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:12.240 of Eastern Europe. It really is. Yeah. We're 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:15.320 looking at a project that describes itself, and 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.920 this is a direct quote from our sources, as a 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.140 fortress of the spirit. Which is quite the image, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:24.140 isn't it? A fortress. Not a castle, not a palace, 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.579 but a fortress. Right. It implies defense. Right. 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:29.800 It implies that there is, you know, something 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:32.740 precious inside that needs protecting. Exactly. 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:34.700 And usually when you hear fortress, you think 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:38.640 of medieval stone walls, knights, arrows, that 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.100 sort of thing. But we aren't talking about ancient 00:00:40.100 --> 00:00:42.700 history here. Well, we are. But a modern reconstruction 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:45.780 of it. Yeah. Today, we are doing a deep dive 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:48.679 into the Dragan European University of Lugos, 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.799 also known as DEU. And just to locate that for 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:54.479 you, it is in Lugos, which is in Timi County, 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:56.840 Romania. Right. And just looking at the surface 00:00:56.840 --> 00:00:58.640 level, you might be thinking, OK, it's a private 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.820 university in Romania. Why are we doing a deep 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:03.219 dive into this? But once you start peeling back 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:06.760 the layers of the history, the the architecture 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.459 and the actual mission statement, you realize 00:01:09.459 --> 00:01:12.519 this isn't just a school. It's a statement. That 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:15.560 is the perfect way to put it. It is a statement. 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:18.760 The source material we have today, which covers 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:20.959 the university's founding history, the architectural 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.980 blueprints, and the academic structure, it paints 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:26.120 a picture of an institution that was designed 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:30.379 to revive a city. A whole city? Yes. Lugos has 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:32.739 this traditional status as a cultural center 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:35.959 in the Banat region. And this university was 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.379 built to be the engine that restarted that legacy. 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:41.209 so to speak. It's a comeback story, and the main 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:43.549 character in the story is the founder, Professor 00:01:43.549 --> 00:01:47.090 Yosef Konstantin Dragan. He didn't just want 00:01:47.090 --> 00:01:49.010 to open a business. He wanted to build a legacy. 00:01:49.209 --> 00:01:51.150 And he was very, very specific about how that 00:01:51.150 --> 00:01:53.530 legacy should look. He was. So let's get into 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:55.290 the weeds here. I want to start with the foundation, 00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:57.829 and I don't mean the legal paperwork just yet. 00:01:57.930 --> 00:01:59.650 You mean the literal dirt. I mean the literal 00:01:59.650 --> 00:02:01.650 dirt, because there is a moment in the history 00:02:01.650 --> 00:02:03.769 of this place that feels like something out of 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:05.930 a movie. Oh, you're talking about the time capsule 00:02:05.930 --> 00:02:09.280 moment. The time capsule moment, yes. Okay, set 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:14.379 the scene for us. It is April 21st, 1993. So 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.139 to give you some context, the university had 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:18.020 been legally founded a few months prior, back 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:22.479 in October 1992. But April 21st, 1993 is when 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.319 they are actually breaking ground on the physical 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.180 campus. The big day. Right. This is the moment 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:29.099 the dream starts becoming concrete. And they 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:31.319 don't just dig a hole and pour cement. They make 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:33.629 it a whole ritual. They do. They take a stainless 00:02:33.629 --> 00:02:35.729 steel cylinder, which is such a classic durable 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:38.250 image, and they place it at the foundation of 00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:41.090 the building. And inside, there is a message 00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:43.509 signed by Professor Dragan and Virgil Turkin. 00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:45.569 Who was the mayor of Lugos at the time. Exactly. 00:02:45.610 --> 00:02:47.349 So it's that partnership between the private 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:49.629 founder and the city leadership. They are locking 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:53.000 arms. But the speech. The speech Dragan gave 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:54.719 that day is what I really want to unpack here, 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.840 because he drops a date that genuinely made me 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:00.020 do a double take. 1241. 1241. He's standing there 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:02.939 in 1993, and he is talking about the year 1241. 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:06.860 It's a span of 750 years. He says, and I quote, 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.939 Today is a historic day. The first cornerstone 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:12.039 is laid at the foundation of the new fortress 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:15.020 in the city of Lugois, whose old fortress fell 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:19.169 in 1241. That is heavy. He is framing the construction 00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:21.169 of a modern university as the reconstruction 00:03:21.169 --> 00:03:25.389 of a lost military stronghold. Precisely. And 00:03:25.389 --> 00:03:27.870 he goes on to explain that pivot. He says, yesterday 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:30.409 it was a defense fortress for the people. Today 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:32.569 it is a defense fortress of the spirit. Fortress 00:03:32.569 --> 00:03:34.729 of the spirit. It is a really beautiful rhetorical 00:03:34.729 --> 00:03:37.430 move. He is acknowledging the trauma of the past, 00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:40.789 the fall, the old medieval fortress. And he is 00:03:40.789 --> 00:03:42.949 saying that the new defense isn't about physical 00:03:42.949 --> 00:03:45.310 walls to keep armies out. Right. It is about 00:03:45.310 --> 00:03:48.180 knowledge. He calls it a contribution to universal 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:50.639 science. It totally changes the stakes, doesn't 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.340 it? I mean, if you are just building a classroom, 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.520 you are worried about desks and chalkboards. 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:56.719 But if you're building a defense fortress of 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.460 the spirit, you are worried about history, civilization, 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:02.060 survival. And you have to remember the context. 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:06.039 The early 1990s in Eastern Europe was a time 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:08.560 of massive transition. The whole world was shifting. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.520 There was a lot of uncertainty. Building a fortress. 00:04:12.349 --> 00:04:14.969 suggests a desire for stability yeah a desire 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:17.269 to create something that simply cannot be knocked 00:04:17.269 --> 00:04:19.009 down again and speaking of things that cannot 00:04:19.009 --> 00:04:20.709 be knocked down let's talk about the building 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:23.389 itself because they didn't just talk a big game 00:04:23.389 --> 00:04:26.290 they built a big game the construction timeline 00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:28.870 was incredibly fast too they buried that cylinder 00:04:28.870 --> 00:04:31.829 in 93 and the main building was completely finished 00:04:31.829 --> 00:04:35.870 by 1996. three years three years to build what 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:38.579 is essentially a monument I want to take you 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:41.160 on an audio tour of this place because the specs 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.699 in the documents we're looking at are wild. It 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:46.259 is designed to impress. There's absolutely no 00:04:46.259 --> 00:04:49.360 subtlety here. None. So you walk in and you are 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.120 standing in the marble hall. Which is an evocative 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:54.560 name all on its own. It is. And it's not just 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.680 a nice foyer. It is 644 square meters. Let's 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.420 just pause on that number for a second. 644 square 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:04.740 meters for a reception hall. That is larger than 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:07.180 most luxury apartments. That is larger than the 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:09.740 entire footprint of some suburban houses. It's 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.839 massive and it is completely lined with marble. 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.899 It echoes. It feels permanent. You walk in there 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.639 and you feel small, which I assume is the whole 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.279 point. Absolutely. Architecture like that is 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:24.240 designed to command respect. It tells the student 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:26.500 or the visiting dignitary that you are entering 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:29.420 a place of real importance. And then if you keep 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:32.360 walking, you get to the crown jewel of the campus. 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:36.259 The All Magna. The Great Hall. Great. 470 square 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:39.300 meters. With 450 seats. It's a theater, basically. 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:41.920 But there is a detail in the tech specs for this 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.259 specific room that I think is the most revealing 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:47.079 thing in our entire document stack. I bet I know 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:49.220 what you're going to say. The interpretation 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.819 booths. Yes. The Almagna is equipped with a simultaneous 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:55.459 interpretation system for three different languages. 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.100 Now stop and think about why a university in 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:01.100 Lugos, serving mostly local Romanian students, 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:04.360 would need simultaneous interpretation for three 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.579 languages. You don't need that for a standard 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:10.490 lecture on Finance 101. No, you do not. You need 00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:12.850 that if you are planning to host international 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.329 summits. You need that if you are bringing in 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:18.410 diplomats, European leaders and global researchers. 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:20.930 Right. That technology isn't for the typical 00:06:20.930 --> 00:06:24.290 students of 1996. It's for the ambition of the 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:27.790 university itself. It's a signal. It says we 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:31.129 are Dragan European University. Heavy emphasis 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:34.029 on the European part. They wanted to be a hub 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:36.110 where different cultures and languages crossed 00:06:36.110 --> 00:06:39.910 paths. It is literal infrastructure for a future. 00:06:40.329 --> 00:06:43.189 that they were actively trying to will into existence. 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:45.470 And the rest of the campus completely backs this 00:06:45.470 --> 00:06:47.930 up. It's not just one big fancy room. They have 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:51.430 four large lecture rooms with 192 seats each. 00:06:51.649 --> 00:06:54.670 They have smaller lecture rooms with 58 seats 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:57.329 and eight seminar rooms. It's a fully fleshed 00:06:57.329 --> 00:06:59.850 out academic ecosystem. And we really can't overlook 00:06:59.850 --> 00:07:02.290 the specialized facilities either. In the 90s, 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:04.769 having two dedicated IT and computing laboratories 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:07.610 was a very significant investment. Definitely. 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:09.839 It showed they weren't stuck in the past. despite 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.879 all the medieval fortress metaphors. They were 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:14.000 looking straight at the digital future. But there 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.779 is one room that really stood out to me. It's 00:07:15.779 --> 00:07:18.060 listed right there in the blueprints. The forensic 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:21.600 laboratory. Yes. That is a very specific, somewhat 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.680 unusual inclusion. Highly unusual. Usually you 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:28.019 see biology labs, maybe chemistry, but a forensic 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:31.800 lab. That feels very CSI. It does, but just hold 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:34.220 that thought. Because when we get to the actual 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:36.850 academic structure... That room is going to make 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:38.990 perfect sense. It's not just there for show. 00:07:39.149 --> 00:07:41.350 Okay, I will pin that. But before we leave the 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:43.170 visual tour of the building, we have to look 00:07:43.170 --> 00:07:45.750 at the art. Because nothing says legacy quite 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:48.290 like a giant mosaic of your own face. Well, it 00:07:48.290 --> 00:07:50.649 is the founder's prerogative. True. So on March 00:07:50.649 --> 00:07:53.709 26, 1997, about a year after the building opens, 00:07:53.910 --> 00:07:56.910 they unveil an effigy in the entrance hall. It 00:07:56.910 --> 00:08:00.129 is a mosaic of Professor Dragon. And it is huge. 00:08:00.389 --> 00:08:04.189 2 .85 meters by 1 .87 meters. It's monumental. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:06.160 But you have to look at the materials. Look at 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.459 the provenance of it. It wasn't made by a local 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:10.860 contractor down the street? No. It was created 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:13.819 by Vittorio Venturelli. He was an Italian craftsman 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:16.600 from Pier Trisanto. And the piece itself is made 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.980 of Murano mosaic. Murano glass. That is the good 00:08:19.980 --> 00:08:23.240 stuff. It is the best stuff. Historically... 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.300 Murano glass from Venice is a symbol of high 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:29.139 art, of wealth, and specifically of European 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:32.000 culture. Right. By commissioning an Italian artist 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.460 to create a Murano mosaic for a university in 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:37.779 Lugoj, Dragan was making a very deliberate cultural 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:40.860 connection. He was importing prestige. Exactly. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.419 He was physically embedding Western European 00:08:43.419 --> 00:08:46.139 artistic tradition right into the walls of his 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:49.059 new fortress. It just reinforces that European 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:51.360 identity we talked about. It's like saying... 00:08:51.820 --> 00:08:54.340 We might be here in the Banat region, but our 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:57.559 standards are Venetian. Precisely. It is incredibly 00:08:57.559 --> 00:08:59.940 ambitious. You have the marble, the tech, the 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:02.500 Italian art. It's a spare no expense kind of 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:05.220 vibe. But a university isn't just a building. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:07.539 No, it's not. You can have the nicest walls in 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:09.120 the world, but if nobody is learning anything, 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.960 it's just a really expensive museum. So let's 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:14.519 talk about the software running on this hardware. 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:16.360 What are the students actually doing all day? 00:09:16.789 --> 00:09:19.450 It is interesting because for all the grandiosity 00:09:19.450 --> 00:09:21.850 of the architecture, the academic focus is actually 00:09:21.850 --> 00:09:25.110 quite tight. It's very focused. It's not a sprawling 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:27.990 liberal arts catalog with 50 different majors. 00:09:28.330 --> 00:09:32.190 No. It is streamlined into two main faculties. 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:34.710 Let's break those down. First, you have the Faculty 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:39.129 of Economics. Okay. Money. Money. The lifeblood 00:09:39.129 --> 00:09:42.029 of the transition to capitalism. They offer a 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:44.710 bachelor's program in finance and banking and 00:09:44.710 --> 00:09:47.330 a master's program in financial management. This 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:50.269 makes perfect sense for the 90s and early 2000s 00:09:50.269 --> 00:09:52.929 in Eastern Europe. The economy is opening up. 00:09:52.970 --> 00:09:56.070 The banking sector is evolving rapidly. You need 00:09:56.070 --> 00:09:58.289 people who actually know how to manage capital. 00:09:58.429 --> 00:10:00.870 Exactly. It is a highly pragmatic choice. And 00:10:00.870 --> 00:10:02.750 then you have the second pillar, the faculty 00:10:02.750 --> 00:10:07.429 of law. Rules. Rules. Money and rules. The faculty 00:10:07.429 --> 00:10:11.070 of law offers a bachelor's program in law. But 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:13.389 here is where we finally solve the mystery of 00:10:13.389 --> 00:10:15.490 that forensic laboratory we found earlier. I'm 00:10:15.490 --> 00:10:17.590 ready. The master's program in the Faculty of 00:10:17.590 --> 00:10:19.830 Law is specifically in criminal investigation 00:10:19.830 --> 00:10:22.210 management. Oh, there it is. Criminal investigation 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:24.389 management. Suddenly, that forensic laboratory 00:10:24.389 --> 00:10:26.629 isn't just a weird extra room on the floor plan. 00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:29.450 It is the core training ground for those master's 00:10:29.450 --> 00:10:31.769 students. They aren't just reading about crime 00:10:31.769 --> 00:10:34.250 scenes in textbooks. Right. They have a facility 00:10:34.250 --> 00:10:36.370 to practice the actual science of investigation. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.720 I love that. I love when the architecture perfectly 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:43.100 matches the curriculum. It shows a level of planning 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:46.480 that goes way beyond just let's build a big school. 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:48.600 It does. And if you step back and look at these 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.639 two pillars, law and economics, it tells you 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:53.860 a whole lot about what the university values. 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:56.340 It feels very solid. That is the perfect word. 00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:59.100 And it actually aligns perfectly with the university's 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:01.720 official motto. Which is? A university for solid 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.519 destinies. A university for solid destinies. 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:07.659 That is a really fascinating phrase. It is. Notice 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:10.139 it's not a university for dreamers. It's not 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:12.620 a university for changing the world. It is solid 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:15.379 destinies. It implies reliability. It implies 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:18.580 that if you come here and you study law or finance, 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.320 you will have a foundation. You will have a career. 00:11:21.539 --> 00:11:24.379 You will be secure in a world that can feel completely 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:28.320 chaotic. A solid destiny is a very attractive 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.000 promise to a student. It fits the fortress metaphor 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.679 perfectly, too. A fortress is solid. It protects 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.039 you. A solid destiny protects your future. Exactly. 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:39.700 And to ensure that solidity, the university itself 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:42.039 has to be stable. We see that clearly in their 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.450 leadership history. Yeah, looking at the list 00:11:44.450 --> 00:11:47.529 of rectors, the people in charge, it's a surprisingly 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:50.409 short list. It is. Since the founding in 1992, 00:11:50.750 --> 00:11:53.190 there have only been three main eras of leadership 00:11:53.190 --> 00:11:55.450 mentioned in our sources. You had Professor Emil 00:11:55.450 --> 00:11:58.889 Ponaru from 92 to 2002. The founding era. Then 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:01.210 you had Professor Niku Trandefer from 2002 to 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:04.129 2012. The consolidation era. And since 2012, 00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:07.629 Professor Prasida Sitchin -Krista. That is remarkable 00:12:07.629 --> 00:12:11.330 stability. Three rectors in 30 years. I know 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:14.110 corporations that... change CEOs every 18 months? 00:12:14.389 --> 00:12:16.870 It speaks to the desire for continuity. The fortress 00:12:16.870 --> 00:12:19.509 doesn't change its guard on a whim. True, but 00:12:19.509 --> 00:12:22.070 here is the elephant in the room, or maybe the 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:23.970 elephant in the marble hall. Proud universities 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:27.590 can sometimes be, let's say, variable in quality. 00:12:27.889 --> 00:12:30.370 We've all heard horror stories of degree mills. 00:12:30.570 --> 00:12:33.429 How do we know DEU is the real deal? That is 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:35.389 a very fair question, and is one the university 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:38.279 clearly anticipated. The documentation is extremely 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:40.460 heavy on legal proof. They brought the receipts. 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:42.720 They did. First of all, let's look at the legal 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.799 status. It is defined as a juridical person of 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.500 private law and public use. Public use. That 00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:52.379 is the key phrase there. Yes. It means it is 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:54.659 fully part of the Romanian national education 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:57.899 system. It is not operating in some unmonitored 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:01.620 gray area. The big milestone here. was law number 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:06.639 100 on March 21, 2003. What exactly did that 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:10.240 law do? That was the official state -level accreditation. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.059 It officially recognized that the faculties, 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.399 the specializations, the research activity, all 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.000 of it met the strict national standards. It was 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.860 the government stamp of approval. But they didn't 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:21.700 just stop there. There was a more recent checkup, 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:24.600 right? Yes, in 2012. The university underwent 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.320 a major external institutional evaluation by 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:29.480 ERASIS. ERASIS. That sounds like a villain in 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:31.820 a sci -fi movie, but I assume they're the good 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.080 guys. They are the watchdogs. It stands for the 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.419 Romanian National Council of Academic Evaluation 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:38.700 and Accreditation. They came in, they looked 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:40.519 at everything, and they granted the university 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:42.940 the Certificate of Trust. Certificate of Trust? 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.200 That sounds nice. It is the highest level of 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.399 confidence. It certifies the quality of the education 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.879 being provided. But there is a nuance in the 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:53.899 Erasis report that I find really interesting, 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.840 and it helps us understand exactly what kind 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.600 of university this is. What's the nuance? They 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.179 classified DEU as a university largely focused 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:05.980 on education. As opposed to? As opposed to an 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:09.600 advanced research university. In the academic 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.899 world, there is a hierarchy. At the very top, 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.659 you have universities that are churning out groundbreaking 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:19.259 scientific data, Nobel Prizes, massive laboratory 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:22.419 breakthroughs. DEU is classified as an education 00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:25.220 -focused institution. So it's a teaching university. 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.419 Exactly. And the sources note that scientific 00:14:27.419 --> 00:14:29.820 research is still a strategic objective. They 00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:31.639 are doing it, especially those master's programs 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:33.879 we talked about. But the classification admits 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.830 that the primary engine here is teaching. It 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:38.809 is about taking a student and giving them that 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.190 solid destiny. They aren't trying to be MIT. 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:43.669 They are trying to be a place where you go to 00:14:43.669 --> 00:14:47.009 learn a trade law or finance at a very high level. 00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:49.110 And that honesty is important. It clarifies their 00:14:49.110 --> 00:14:51.190 mission. They are building professionals. And 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:53.110 they are plugged into the wider network, too. 00:14:53.210 --> 00:14:55.129 I saw in the docs they are members of the EUA. 00:14:55.210 --> 00:14:58.850 The European University Association. Again. Validating 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:01.769 the name Dragan European University. It's not 00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:04.450 just a fancy name on the door. They are card 00:15:04.450 --> 00:15:07.710 -carrying members of the broader European academic 00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:10.210 community. So let's zoom out a bit. We've looked 00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:12.070 at the stainless steel cylinder in the dirt. 00:15:12.190 --> 00:15:14.110 We've looked at the Murana mosaic. We've looked 00:15:14.110 --> 00:15:16.450 at the forensic lab and the accreditation papers. 00:15:17.190 --> 00:15:19.750 What does this all add up to? It adds up to a 00:15:19.750 --> 00:15:22.799 realized vision. You really have to give credit 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:26.740 to the sheer will involved here. In 1992, Professor 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:29.840 Dragan had a vision of reviving Lugos as a cultural 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.360 center. He saw a gap in history, that 750 -year 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.220 gap from the fall of the old fortress, and he 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:37.899 essentially decided to close it himself. And 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:39.659 he didn't do it halfway. He didn't just rent 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:41.539 an office building and put up a sign. He built 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:44.320 a city within a city. That is the phrase, a city 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.639 within a city. The scale of it, the marble hall, 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:50.120 the Eula Magna, it forces the city of Lugos to 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:54.600 level up. It demands attention. It is a massive 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:58.159 physical intervention in the landscape. And going 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.159 back to that time capsule idea, a university 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.830 is always a time capsule. How so? Well, it captures 00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:07.429 the knowledge, the values, and the aspirations 00:16:07.429 --> 00:16:10.370 of one generation and tries to transmit them 00:16:10.370 --> 00:16:12.629 to the next. That stainless steel cylinder in 00:16:12.629 --> 00:16:15.070 the foundation is just the literal version of 00:16:15.070 --> 00:16:16.889 what happens in the lecture halls every single 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:19.669 day. That's true. Every time a professor teaches 00:16:19.669 --> 00:16:21.830 a class on criminal investigation or financial 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:24.350 management, they are passing something down. 00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:26.970 They are securing the future. That is a beautiful 00:16:26.970 --> 00:16:29.110 way to think about it. The whole building is 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:31.230 essentially a transmission device. Exactly. But 00:16:31.230 --> 00:16:33.590 here's the question that I... am left with and 00:16:33.590 --> 00:16:35.490 it is kind of a big one for you to think about 00:16:35.490 --> 00:16:38.169 let's hear it we are looking at this fortress 00:16:38.169 --> 00:16:41.669 of the spirit from the perspective of today and 00:16:41.669 --> 00:16:46.889 today the world is liquid it is digital we have 00:16:46.889 --> 00:16:49.230 people getting entire degrees on video calls 00:16:49.230 --> 00:16:52.070 we have digital nomads working from anywhere 00:16:52.070 --> 00:16:54.649 with wi -fi the physical constraints of learning 00:16:54.649 --> 00:16:58.309 are completely dissolving right so In an age 00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:01.190 of digital learning, what is the value of a physical 00:17:01.190 --> 00:17:04.910 fortress? Does sitting in a 644 square meter 00:17:04.910 --> 00:17:08.170 marble hall actually help create those solid 00:17:08.170 --> 00:17:10.509 destinies better than sitting with a laptop in 00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:12.450 a coffee shop? That is the fundamental tension 00:17:12.450 --> 00:17:14.849 of our time, isn't it? Professor Dragan came 00:17:14.849 --> 00:17:17.589 from a world where solidity meant stone, marble, 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:20.329 and physical presence. He believed that to defend 00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:23.390 the spirit, you needed walls. You needed a tangible 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:25.789 sanctuary. And maybe he was right. there's a 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:28.269 very strong argument for it. In a world where 00:17:28.269 --> 00:17:30.410 everything is fleeting, where information just 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:32.950 washes over us in these endless digital waves, 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:35.769 maybe there is a profound psychological value 00:17:35.769 --> 00:17:38.190 in going to a place that feels permanent. Yeah. 00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:41.109 A place that says, this knowledge matters, this 00:17:41.109 --> 00:17:43.609 history matters, and we built a fortress to prove 00:17:43.609 --> 00:17:45.950 it. That weight, maybe that physical weight gives 00:17:45.950 --> 00:17:48.109 the education a gravity you simply cannot get 00:17:48.109 --> 00:17:50.890 online. It anchors the student. And perhaps that 00:17:50.890 --> 00:17:53.690 is exactly what leads to a solid destiny. Well, 00:17:53.730 --> 00:17:56.450 whether you prefer marble halls or digital clouds, 00:17:56.690 --> 00:17:59.450 you have to appreciate the sheer ambition of 00:17:59.450 --> 00:18:02.730 the Dragan European University, a modern fortress 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:07.150 built to heal a 750 -year -old wound. It is a 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:09.130 remarkable story. Thank you all for listening 00:18:09.130 --> 00:18:11.309 to this deep dive. We really hope you enjoyed 00:18:11.309 --> 00:18:13.589 this tour of the Fortress of the Spirit. Keep 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:15.509 questioning the architecture around you. We will 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:16.470 catch you on the next one.