This Act, signed into law by President Abelardo Rodríguez, recognizes the full autonomy of the University and defines it as a corporation whose purpose is to provide higher education to supply the nation the professionals and technicians it needs, while organizing scientific research on national affairs and concerns, and extending the benefits of culture to the wider population. The Act defines the scope and respective authorities of the Board of Regents, Rector, deans of faculties, schools and institutes, and of students and professors representing the Academies.

Unlike previous organic acts, the Act of 1933 provides for a Rector nominated to lead and carry out the executive administration of the institution. Moreover, the Rector presides over the University Board of Regents, which is the university’s highest authority and is charged with establishing the rules and regulations needed to organize and define internal governance.

This concise Act, consisting of only nine articles, provides for the issuance of statutes, which for the first time in the history of the University establish a structure of governance guaranteeing the permanent interface of the community’s governing bodies with the community itself.

The spirit of the Act of 1933 is informed by the awareness of its complete autonomy. It asserts that the university community as a whole, through its governing bodies, is the sole source of authority and is empowered to determine the procedures and mechanisms needed for internal governance.

In point of fact, this Act transfers full autonomy to the University, stripping it of its status as a public institution and in effect privatizing it. The Act endows the University with a one-time influx of funds, freeing it to generate income to underpin its operations.

The Lázaro Cárdenas administration did not improve the University’s position. The institution and the president were often at odds over policy and politics. President Cardenas finally ordered Rector Fernando Ocaranza to abide by Article 3 of the Constitution and restructure the university along revolutionary lines. Ocaranza subsequently resigned and a series of new Rectors, Luis Chico Goerne, Gustavo Baz and Mario de la Cueva, who enjoyed a better working relationship with the administration, were appointed. It was not until the nomination of Rector Manuel Ávila Camacho, however, that university life experienced deep changes in its organization.