In 1909, Enrico Catellani was celebrated in “intimate” style in respect to his modest disposition, for his “professorship jubilee”, in the words of the rector, Vittorio Polacco, in the statement opening the 1909-1910 academic year.
Around 20 April, the day of the anniversary, some newspapers paid homage to the professor with praise and wishes for a long continuance of his teaching and scientific activities, such as the  Rivista coloniale which took the opportunity to illustrate his scientific output on colonial matters, and Il Veneto which said of him: Unparalleled Maestro, flawless narrator, elegant and precise speaker, Professor Catellani turns every lesson into a masterpiece – and the University indeed has one of the most conscientious and loyal teachers. That is why his lecture hall is always filled with attentive and admiring students.

It was just a few days after the anniversary that the professor was involved in student protests which even resulted in riots.
The grounds for the protest were the “abandonment” of the School of Medicine and the legal framework of the engineering profession.
For these reasons, during his visit to Padua on 26 April, the Minister of Education Luigi Rava was booed by students at the entrance of the Technical School. In reaction, Professors Severi and Turazza, and even Catellani, struck two students, Ruggieri and Dall’Oglio, to make them stop.
The incidents and the aftermath that eventually led to the closure of the University made the news in La Provincia di Padova, where we read: While students were gathering for a rally at the beginning of his lesson at 10 o’clock this morning, Professor Catellani briefly alluded to the events of yesterday, declaring that he had reacted on a public street against a man who was determined to harass Professor Turazza who urged him to desist. With that gentleman, who is not known to be a student, he means to have a personal issue which now, as in similar occasions, he is willing to address in any way. He does not believe there is any justification for such a personal matter to become an issue involving the university.