Kresimiria University of Pulma

University of Pulma

The University of Pulma is a major public university located in the city of Pulma, the second-largest city in District IV (Severnivaraje). It is the fourth-largest university in the Divine Republic of Kresimiria by enrollment, trailing only Sinj University, Karlovac University, and Vijrje City University.

Established in the 1940s, the university is distinct from its older rivals due to its origins. While Sinj and Karlovac were founded by imperial or state decrees, Pulma was established through grassroots funding from northern regionalist movements. It is renowned for its programs in Law, Economics, and Political Science, serving as the intellectual engine of the northern autonomy movement.

History

The “School of the People” (1944–1963)

The university was founded in 1944, during the height of Chancellor Kresimirovic II’s centralist administration. At the time, higher education was concentrated almost exclusively in Sinj and Decelska, forcing northern students to travel south and assimilate into the capital’s culture.

To counter this “brain drain,” Imanuel Iric, then leader of the Bistrice People’s Party (BPP), spearheaded an initiative to build a center of learning in the north. However, rather than seeking funding from the Council for Education (which was likely to be denied or come with strict conditions), Iric raised funds through a network of local agricultural cooperatives, forestry unions, and wealthy merchants in Pulma.

Crucially, the project received significant logistical and financial support from the early affiliates of Northern Power. Although Northern Power was a minor, politically irrelevant fringe group at the time, its focus on community outreach aligned perfectly with the university’s mission. This collaboration laid the early groundwork for the eventual merger of the BPP and Northern Power two decades later.

The university has historically been a hub for independent thought and media. In the 1960s, a collective of student activists and faculty members from the Department of Political Science founded The Pulma Press, a newsletter intended to coordinate regionalist community outreach. This publication would eventually evolve into the major national media organization Northfocus. The historical connection remains strong today, with a significant number of Northfocus editors and journalists being recruited directly from the university’s Faculty of Regional Law and Economics.

Expansion and the Merger (1963–Present)

Following the 1963 merger of the BPP into Northern Power under Pavel Iric, the University of Pulma saw a massive influx of investment. It became the de facto “party school” for the regionalist movement.

The university’s financial precarity ended in 1964 with the passage of the Northern Development Grant Act. Negotiated by Pavel Iric, this legislation secured federal funding for the institution while preserving its academic independence, allowing it to expand its Law and Political Science faculties.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the university expanded rapidly, absorbing several smaller vocational colleges in southern Severnivaraje. Its growth was driven by the increasing need for lawyers and economists to challenge the central government’s resource extraction policies in the courts.

Campus and Geography

The university is located in Pulma, a city in the southern reaches of District IV. Geographically, Pulma is separated from the district capital, Bistrica, by the rugged Severni Range of mountains and vast agricultural fields. This isolation from the district seat has allowed the university to develop a unique, somewhat rebellious campus culture.

The architecture is distinctively “Northern Modernist,” utilizing local timber and stone rather than the concrete Brutalism of Sinj. The heart of the campus is the Cooperative Quad, a gathering space named in honor of the farmers and loggers who funded the university’s construction.

Academics

The University of Pulma does not attempt to compete with Sinj University in engineering or medicine, nor with Karlovac in theology. Instead, it focuses on the social sciences.

Key Faculties

  • The Faculty of Regional Law: Considered the best law school in the country for Constitutional Law and Land Rights. It trains the majority of the lawyers who work for Northern Power and the northern trade unions.
  • School of Northern Economics: This faculty is famous for teaching “Cooperative Economics,” a curriculum that emphasizes collective ownership and social welfare, often contrasting sharply with the free-market doctrines taught at Sinj University.
  • Institute of Geography and Resource Management: Focuses on forestry, water management, and sustainable agriculture, critical issues for the northern districts.
  • Department of Political Science: A hotbed of political activism and regionalist theory.

Lack of STEM

The university has been criticized by the Council for Education for its “lopsided” curriculum.

Student Life and Politics

The student body at Pulma is politically active and overwhelmingly left-leaning/regionalist. The university is the stronghold of the Northern Youth League, the student wing of Northern Power.

Traditions

  • The Mountain March: During orientation week, first-year students hike from the campus into the foothills of the Severni Range to plant saplings, symbolizing their roots in the region.
  • The “Paper Blockade”: A protest tradition where law students flood the local CIA office with Freedom of Information requests to disrupt bureaucracy.

Notable Alumni