Ligia Amada de Melo, the new minister of higher education, has been asked to act as arbiter in the worsening of the crisis at the UNPHU after the cancellation of rector Margot Taule by the Federacion Universitaria Dominicana. The Academic Council of the school disputes her removal. The National Pedro Henriquez Urena University (UNPHU), in the 70s the leading private university, has plummeted from a peak one-time enrollment of 14,000 students to its present student body of 2,000. Apart from its decline in registration, the institution is affected by a major financial crisis that its authorities had hoped to resolve with the sale of the 57,000 square meters of its Campus I. The sale hasn’t happened yet, and the university has all but collapsed. “This university has a tradition in this country, has produced very good graduates, has developed careers, and is accredited in this country and abroad. We consider it part of the nation’s heritage that should not perish,” said Melo.