The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the
students' union of the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
(UC). Founded in
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belonging to an independent institution, since it represents all the students of its
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, who gain automatic membership into the AAC as students of the University of Coimbra (25,580 students as of 2021
).
In addition to several departments dedicated to culture and student life, ranging from theatre and musical groups to radio and cinematography, the AAC has several sports' departments based in Coimbra. All teams and athletes of the AAC sports departments bear the same name and logo with black uniforms. This is one of the largest
sports clubs
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
of Portugal. The
Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. is one of its better known organizations across Portugal due to a historical presence on the main
Portuguese Football Championships and the popularity of football in the country. In rugby (
Portuguese Rugby Union Championship), volleyball (
Portuguese Volleyball Championship) and basketball (
Portuguese Basketball League (LCB)
The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol ( en, Portuguese Basketball League), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal.
History
From the 2008–09 season onward, the competiti ...
) top flight competitions, through the
Associação Académica de Coimbra (rugby union), the
Associação Académica de Coimbra (volleyball) and the
Associação Académica de Coimbra (basketball) departments, the AAC has also been represented at the highest level in the Portuguese major competitions across its history, as well as in several
olympic sports ranging from athletics to martial arts disciplines. The chess team has been Portuguese champion on several occasions.
History
The Associação Académica de Coimbra was predated by several older student organisations, for example the
Orfeon Académico de Coimbra Orfeon Académico de Coimbra (O.A.C.) is the oldest and one of the most famous academic choirs in Portugal. It was established in 1880 by the then University of Coimbra's law student João Arroio, with the name ''Sociedade Choral do Orpheon Académ ...
(1880). This choir remains as an autonomous entity within the association. The Associação Académica was founded on the base of the student dramatic society, the Academia Dramática de Coimbra (1849-1887). The main mover was a law student
António Luís Gomes. In 1971, student protests against policies of the
Estado Novo regime led to the Associação Académica being closed down, preceding a round of repression.
Organization
The AAC is governed by a "D.G. - Direcção Geral" (Directorate-General, the main board) made up entirely of students of the University of Coimbra; yearly elections take place to name the members of this board, any student can sign up to be a candidate. All the students of UC are entitled to vote for the AAC board. The current president of the main board is João Assunção.
Since the late 1990s inside the AAC structure have been created several local student unions, representing courses, departments or sometimes faculties/colleges. Known as “Núcleos” (Portuguese for nucleus), these semi-independent unions have their own elected internal organs. All of them represent a major role in the AAC political, cultural, sportive and social life. In 2008 the AAC comprehended 25 of such unions, of which NEFLUC (Students union of the Faculty of Letters) is the biggest, representing nearly 3000 students.
![Students in robes (for the first week of the class year)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Students_in_robes_%28for_the_first_week_of_the_class_year%29.jpg)
The main building of the Coimbra's Academic Association was inaugurated in 1961 and holds the offices of many
sports clubs
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
''(secções desportivas)'' and
arts sections ''(secções culturais)''. There are also rehearsal halls, a medical centre, academic services, extensive indoor gardens, a theatre-cinema with approximately 1,000 seats (''Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente''), and a café–restaurant where many students meet up and enjoy a wide selection of foods. AAC is the
umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
for a number of
autonomous entities, the ''organismos autónomos''.
Some of its better known former members include
Salgado Zenha
Francisco Salgado Zenha GCL (2 May 1923, Braga – 1 November 1993, Lisbon) was a Portuguese left-wing politician and lawyer.
As a student at the University of Coimbra, he was elected president of the Academic Association of Coimbra, bein ...
,
Manuel Alegre,
António de Almeida Santos
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...
,
Miguel Torga
Miguel Torga (), pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha ( São Martinho de Anta, Sabrosa, Vila Real district, 12 August 1907 – Coimbra, 17 January 1995), is considered one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the 20th century. He wrote poe ...
,
António Nobre
António Pereira Nobre (16 August 1867 – 18 March 1900) was a Portugal, Portuguese poet. His masterpiece, ''Só (poem collection), Só'' (Paris, 1892), was the only book he published.
Life
Northern Portugal
Nobre was a member of a wealth ...
,
Vergílio Ferreira,
Zeca Afonso Zeca may refer to:
* José Afonso (1929–1987), Portuguese folk and political musician also known mononymously as Zeca
* Zeca (footballer, born 1946), full name Jose Luiz Ferreira Rodrigues, Brazilian football manager known mononymously as Zeca ...
, and
Adriano Correia de Oliveira
Adriano Maria Correia Gomes de Oliveira, GCIH, ComL, or just Adriano (April 9, 1942 – October 16, 1982) was a Portuguese musician, born to a conservative Roman Catholic family in Porto. His family moved to Avintes after his birth. He went to ...
.
In addition, the AAC is the organizing and regulating body of the typical student ''
Praxe
The Portuguese term praxe ( from the Greek πρᾶξις, ''praxis'') describes the whole of student traditions in universities or, more often, to the initiation rituals freshmen are subjected to in some Portuguese universities.
Praxe is re ...
'' (Praxis) of the University of Coimbra (UC), a rich tradition of rituals and festivities organized by UC's students, for the students.
Sports sections
Many sports teams and athletes of the AAC sports clubs have been regularly involved with major national and international sports clubs and competitions. The AAC sports clubs hold many of their training sessions and games in the
University Stadium and Sports Complex of the University of Coimbra located in the Santa Clara area of the city, in the southern bank of the Mondego river. There is also the historical ''Campo de Santa Cruz'' close by the ''Pólo I'' campus of the University of Coimbra, the oldest campus of this university, which as facilities that include 2 fields for the practice of several sports events including football, rugby and baseball.
The AAC sports clubs include:
*
Archery
*
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
*
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
*
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
since 1994.
[Josh Chetwynd ''Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History'' 2008- Page 222 "That season also marked the start of the Associacao Académica de Coimbra's involvement with the sport. The students' union of the University of Coimbra features several sports and cultural sections as well as autonomous organizations.]
*
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
: is played at ''
Pavilhão Multiusos de Coimbra''. The team (
Associação Académica de Coimbra - basketball) currently plays in the highest level of Portuguese basketball, the
Portuguese Basketball Premier League.
*
Body building
*
Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
*
Canoeing
*
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
*
Competitive swimming
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
*
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
*
Football
*
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
*
Handball
*
Judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
*
Karate
*Motorized sports
*Nautical sports
*Radio-controlled car
*
Rink hockey
Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or quad hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is the only quad skate team sport in existence where two teams face-off against one another at the same time. Two t ...
*
Associação Académica de Coimbra (rugby union): The team has been a major contender in the Portuguese top level rugby union championship. They represented Portugal once at the
European Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
, as an amateur side, for the season of 2004/05, being eliminated by
Borders
A border is a geographical boundary.
Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film
* ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
, from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, after heavy losses of 3-98, home, and 3-107, away, in an aggregate of 6-205. Académica didn't attend the
European Shield the same season. The Coimbra side had one of its players,
Rui Cordeiro, in the
Portugal national rugby union team which was present at the
2007 Rugby World Cup.
*
Roller skating
Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
*
Sport fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit (economics), profit; or subsistence fishing ...
*
Taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...
*
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
*
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
: The team currently plays in the
Portuguese Volleyball League A1.
*
Weightlifting
Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...
*
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
Arts sections
Among the Arts sections of the AAC, the Coimbra's University radio station is best known for its unique profile, youthful and refreshing attitude and ''avant-garde'' style. All the cultural sections of AAC are open to the entire society, promoting respected events, workshops and courses, both for students and the city community.
AAC cultural sections include:
*
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
*
Cinematography
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...
Ecological Group Founded in 1974, it is a place for debate, divulgation and intervention on ecological manners.
*''
Fado de Coimbra'' music
*
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
*
Human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
*
Informatics
*
Journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
:
A Cabra (university newspaper)
*
Philately
*
Portuguese language and culture divulgation
*
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
: ''
Rádio Universidade de Coimbra
Coimbra University Radio (Portuguese: Rádio Universidade de Coimbra - RUC) is a university radio station of the Coimbra Academic Association (students' union) of the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal.
It broadcasts on 107.9 FM (also broa ...
''
*Student SOS - Phone line to support and help students with any kind of personal problems
*
Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
''TV-AAC''*
Writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
and
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
*
Yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
Autonomous organisations
Besides the sports clubs and the arts sections of the Associação Académica de Coimbra, there are also independent organisations within the AAC, the ''Organismos Autónomos''. Such as the above-mentioned
Orfeon Académico de Coimbra Orfeon Académico de Coimbra (O.A.C.) is the oldest and one of the most famous academic choirs in Portugal. It was established in 1880 by the then University of Coimbra's law student João Arroio, with the name ''Sociedade Choral do Orpheon Académ ...
(1880), which today represents the city of Coimbra and the university during its world tours.
The same applies to the main
football team of the AAC, the
Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F., usually known as "Académica" or "Briosa". This team is amongst the top Portuguese football leagues and was created in 1887. It is a professional football club, established by the AAC and also part of the AAC as an independent club. The AAC football club was the first ever winner of the
Portuguese Football Cup, in 1939.
Among the autonomous organisations of AAC there are also some well reputed theatre groups with a vast curriculum of acclaimed performances and playing a critical part in the city's cultural life.
AAC autonomous organisations include:
*
Choral music
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...
:
OAC - Orfeon Académico de Coimbra an
''CMUC - Coro Misto da Universidade de Coimbra''*
Folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
and
Ethnography''Grupo de Etnografia e Folclore da Academia de Coimbra''*
Professional football team:
Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.
*
Music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
''Tuna Académica da Universidade de Coimbra''*
Plastic arts''Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra''*
Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
''TEUC - Teatro dos Estudantes da Universidade de Coimbra''an
''CITAC - Círculo de Iniciação Teatral da Academia de Coimbra''
Events
The AAC is also responsible for the organization of the ''
Queima das Fitas'', one of the biggest student festivals in Europe and a great event in the city. The ''
Festa das Latas'', a smaller-scale event is the freshman's week of the University of Coimbra, also organised by the AAC. The AAC is the official body of the traditional ''
Praxe
The Portuguese term praxe ( from the Greek πρᾶξις, ''praxis'') describes the whole of student traditions in universities or, more often, to the initiation rituals freshmen are subjected to in some Portuguese universities.
Praxe is re ...
'', a sort of students' rite of passage, created by students of the University of Coimbra, which has a
code of conduct
A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization.
Companies' codes of conduct
A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...
, the ''Código da Praxe''), a book published within the students' union.
The Symbol
Before the current logo, the AAC used to be represented by a black cape to reflect the university's traditional students' uniform. The AAC logo was created by Francisco Pimentel in 1927 by request of the AAC's ''Main board''. The logo of the Associação Académica de Coimbra has a stylized drawing of the tower of the university and the acronym AAC.
The Tower of Coimbra's University is the city's «ex-libris» with its iconic bell. The tower's bell is known amongst the students as the ''cabra'' (she-goat). The tower is of
Baroque style by the school of the German-born architect
Ludovice who built it between 1728 and 1733. It is almost 34 metres high, and has a narrow and circular staircase which leads to a
belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
with remarkable views over the university, the historical part of the city centre and the river
Mondego.
AAC uniqueness
University of Coimbra's AAC is the biggest organization of its kind in Europe. It is also the oldest in Portugal. AAC has a long history and unmatched reputation in student sports, cultural activities, and political activism. With a long history of struggle against unpopular state policies, forming notable politicians and intellectuals along the way, it also harbours a very dynamic associative life.
Other similar students' unions in the country, such as ''(
Associação Académica da Universidade de Lisboa)'' (
University of Lisbon
The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
), ''Associação Académica da Universidade de Aveiro'' (
University of Aveiro
The University of Aveiro ( pt, Universidade de Aveiro) is a public university, in addition to providing polytechnic education, located in the Portuguese city of Aveiro. Founded in 1973, it has a student population of approximately 12,500, distri ...
), ''Associação Académica da Universidade da Beira Interior'' (
University of Beira Interior
The University of Beira Interior (UBI; Portuguese: ) is a public university located in the city of Covilhã, Portugal. It was created in 1979, and has about 6,879 students distributed across a multiplicity of graduation courses, awarding all a ...
), ''Associação Académica da Universidade do Minho'' (
Minho University), or ''Associação Académica da Universidade do Algarve'' (
University of the Algarve), are smaller students' unions by number of associates because its universities have a smaller number of students or because the universities' student's aren't automatically members of the union, with a membership fee being required.
In other places in Portugal, there are many independent
faculty, college, institute and school organizations of students from many mother-institutions (universities or polytechnical institutes) that are not representative of the whole mother-institution, being this fragmentation the reason for their smaller size, importance, and strength. There are also federations of students' unions comprising public and private, university and polytechnic independent and not related institutions from a city, like ''FAP - Federação Académica do Porto'' (from
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
) which is the largest students organization in the country, that do not represent a single university or polytechnic, but many independent federated students' unions from institutions of the most diverse kind.
See also
*
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
*
Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F., football
*
Associação Académica de Coimbra - basketball
*
Associação Académica de Coimbra - volleyball
*
Associação Académica de Coimbra (rugby union)
*
Rádio Universidade de Coimbra
Coimbra University Radio (Portuguese: Rádio Universidade de Coimbra - RUC) is a university radio station of the Coimbra Academic Association (students' union) of the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal.
It broadcasts on 107.9 FM (also broa ...
(RUC)
And:
*
Queima das Fitas, student festival in Portuguese universities
*
Praxe
The Portuguese term praxe ( from the Greek πρᾶξις, ''praxis'') describes the whole of student traditions in universities or, more often, to the initiation rituals freshmen are subjected to in some Portuguese universities.
Praxe is re ...
, student initiation rituals in Portuguese universities
*
Academic Crisis 1962, government clampdown on Portuguese universities
*
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
the town
*
Coimbra Fado
Coimbra Fado (Portuguese: ''Fado de Coimbra'') is a genre of fado originating in the city of Coimbra, Portugal. While adopted by students at the University of Coimbra, and sometimes known as Student Fado (''Fado de Estudante''), it is usually ...
, the local version of the song genre
References
External links
Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC)(in Portuguese)
Rádio Universidade de Coimbra (RUC)(in Portuguese)
Teatro dos Estudantes da Universidade de Coimbra(students theatre)
TV-AAC(television)
A Cabra(university students newspaper)
Universidade de Coimbra* (Rink Hockey)
{{Authority control
Student organizations established in 1887
University of Coimbra
Sport in Coimbra
University and college sports clubs in Portugal
Culture in Coimbra
Multi-sport clubs in Portugal
Students' unions in Portugal