Ecuador's youngest first lady, Lavinia Valbonesi, is at the center of a growing controversy after reports emerged that she obtained a bachelor's degree in a remarkably short period. Her husband, President Daniel Noboa, has personally stepped in to defend her, but calls for the university to disclose its evaluation process continue to mount, keeping the controversy alive.
According to local media and Argentine outlets on Monday, Valbonesi, born in 1998, recently obtained a bachelor's degree in social communication from Universidad de Los Hemisferios, a private university in Ecuador.
The controversy erupted after it became known that Valbonesi received her degree roughly eight months after signing an agreement between the university and her foundation in June last year. Allegations spread on local social media and across university campuses that "the sitting first lady obtained a bachelor's degree in just eight to nine months," with some claiming her actual study period was only around six months.
Opposition parties and civil society groups responded that the case is highly unusual compared with ordinary students who shoulder years of tuition and academic burdens to earn their degrees. Some critics raised the question, "Isn't this a privilege made possible only because of her position of power?"
In response, the university explained that it had applied a "Validacion de trayectoria profesional" (professional experience validation) procedure permitted under Ecuador's higher education system. Valbonesi's hands-on communications experience, accumulated through her work as a wellness and fitness influencer, businesswoman, and foundation operator, was recognized as academic credit, the school said. The university stressed that the process was lawful and in line with relevant regulations.
As the controversy grew, President Noboa took to an open letter to push back forcefully. On the 21st, he called the situation "an unjust media lynching" and said, "The degree is a legitimate one with no legal issues whatsoever." He also defended his wife, saying, "Lavinia is a wonderful mother, a fighter, and a role model for women."
Noboa further noted that he holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from New York University, an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, a master's in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School, and a master's in political communication from George Washington University. "What brought me to where I am today is not my degrees but my determination and discipline," he said.
Valbonesi also pushed back in a local media interview on the 23rd, saying, "My degree was not given to me as a gift." She explained that she had taken online classes for a semester and completed all assignments, exams, and thesis evaluations. She added that she had chosen the online program over in-person classes due to security concerns related to her status as first lady.
She also directly addressed allegations of thesis plagiarism. "I met the university's plagiarism standard of below 10 percent, and the match rate for my thesis was less than 7 percent," she said. "If I were not the president's wife, there would not be such an uproar."
Yet the wave of criticism has not subsided. The student council of Universidad de Los Hemisferios and some alumni argued that the university has failed to adequately explain the degree evaluation process, saying the school's credibility and the integrity of its degrees have been damaged. Civil society groups are also urging the Higher Education Council of Ecuador (CES) and the Ministry of Education to fully disclose the standards and procedures for recognizing professional experience and to conduct an independent review.
Meanwhile, Noboa, born in 1987, and Valbonesi, born in 1998, are among the youngest presidential couples in the world. Noboa hails from a banana tycoon family, with his father, Alvaro Noboa, known for amassing a vast fortune in the banana business. Valbonesi originally worked as a nutrition expert and influencer, and is said to have first met Noboa in 2019 when she served as his personal nutritionist.
