The Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango (Juarez University of the State of Durango, or UJED) is an institution of higher education in the state of Durango, Mexico. It was founded in 1856. "In 1856, José de la Bárcena founded the Colegio Civil del Estado (State Civil College); this institution occupied the university's Central Building on January 25, 1860. The original motto was Virtuti et Merito (Virtue and Merit). The central building had previously belonged to the Seminario Conciliar (Council Seminary), a Jesuit institution that specialized in training priests and lawyers. The foundation of the Civil College was part of a struggle between church and state that played out in Mexican higher education in the second half of the 19th century. When it started, the Civil College began to lure academics, resources and endowed chairs from the Seminario, which ultimately closed in 1859."