"Eugenio María de Hostos was a patriot, and also a symbol of the moral meaning of our homeland. Its most prominent virtues were incarnate in him, and in bringing them together he enriched them with his spiritual action and illuminated them with purer shades of light. Like a cutter, he knew how to cut the diamond's facets in order to achieve the greatest luminosity. The sentiment of the homeland was always the basis on which his acts were founded, acts that are, truly, love along with good reasons. In order to serve the homeland he formed himself in a severe discipline of science and conscience. And he devoted himself completely to the work of the moral expansion of Puerto Rico. This man, and so much a man, so conscious of human dignity, a man as strong as one of our ceibas, silk-cotton trees, as firm and passionate as the tropical winds, knew that the homeland, like men, can only be fulfilled in the tonic air of liberty. He lived and suffered calvary for the liberty of Puerto Rico. In no moment a vile consideration, a weakness of the flesh, a temptation of power and glory, separated him from his goal or weakened the intensity of his desires. On many occasions he went far from the homeland because they put obstacles before his actions or because he considered that he could carry them out more efficiently from afar. When he returned from forced or self-exile, faith in the reason of his yearning shone and cut like a sword. Constant sacrifice and self-abnegation lend austerity and genuine nobility to his moral figure. The name of Hostos is an emotion; it has the magic of shaking our spirit to its roots; his thought in constant creative acts, his deeds burning and clean as a mirror, his love for others, and his confidence in spiritual values constitute a valuable heritage for us Puerto Ricans. Let Hostos be an example and mentor for university youth. The homeland was never so in need of the love of its sons, never were its virtues and its dignity more sullied. Let this youth rush to prompt remedy; let it imitate Hostos; let it devote itself like him to an impassioned labor; let it save Puerto Rico with deeds, without wasting itself on empty words; let it love liberty and exercise it with the dignity proper of men. Then and only then will it be worthy of pronouncing, without besmirching it, the prominent name of Eugenio María de Hostos."