Lest we forget the glorious Catholic and Spanish history of our continent, and partially in reaction to the ubiquitous politically correct "securing our boarders" rhetoric, which, frankly, smacks of racist euphemism; please remember, among the myriad Spanish bequests to the New World, the following academic milestones.
It is also good to recall these facts as we prepare to receive our first Amercan Pope who will then canonize the American Revolutionary War era founder of American missions, Saint Junipero Serra.
1535 The installation of the first printing press: Mexico (just 43 years after the Discovery of America).
1538 Founding of the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the first of America, in La Espanola.
1550 Founding of the University of Santiago de la Paz, also in Santo Domingo.
12 May 1551 Founding of the University of Saint Mark: Lima, the oldest extant university of the American continent.
21 September 1551 Founding of the Pontifical and Royal University of Mexico
1573 In conjunction with the University of Mexico All Saints Major College and Saint Idelfonso Seminary College are founded.
There were also three Universities founded in Quito: San Fernando, San Fulgencio (1586) and San Gregorio Magno (1620); and the Universities of Córdoba del Tucumán (1613), Santiago de Chile (1617), La Plata (1624), Guatemala (1676), and Cuzco (1692)...