Concepcion D. Dadufalza: UP's 'GE' Woman

Below is the eulogy I delivered on Dec. 29, 2004 to honor Professor Concepcion D. Dadufalza, UP Professor Emeritus of English. Many scientists and engineers, many “PSHS” graduates, were her students in the English Honors Class. I recognize the importance of “GE” (General Education — liberal and balanced education, broad foundational knowledge), in particular, to science and scientists. We are currently re-examining “GE” in UP. Professor Dadufalza is UP’s “GE” champion.

Dear Ms. Dadufalza, allow me to speak a little about you on behalf of the “Dadufalza kids” of my time. These include some of my classmates, friends, colleagues and my sisters who were all your students. I speak also for myself who found in you the most valued mentor and inspiration of my life as an undergraduate student in UP. During those years and long afterwards, I breathed, thought and lived within the sphere of influence of Dadufalza as did many of you here during your own time.

I chose Dadufalza’s class in English I and II because I was attracted by her unusual name. The two combined courses turned out to be tougher, more absorbing and time-consuming than my math and science courses, and so I made English my priority subject. Ms. Dadufalza reviewed the rudiments and nuances of the English language rigorously. There were endless exercises in reading, writing and discussions in English, all ultimately aimed at developing our skills in critical thinking — both analytical and integrative. She taught us how to prepare detailed, nested, sentence outlines as a basis for writing essays and critiques. She was not training us in a flamboyant writing style or in the use of big words; “words without substance” was nothing to her. She trained us to think and write unified, logical, concise, incisive, substantive, and well-thought-out pieces.

Substance, after all, was what she was really after. Substance with a few words, with her, was alright. Many of us had the gist of substance but felt inadequate and were of few words, and so she would patiently goad us on and slowly draw the thoughts and words out from us. Her own substance indeed was deepest and widest and this she shared through a myriad of literary works which she loved, treasured, shared and argued about with us over and over again. She taught us the value of self-knowledge and self-improvement, the need for a sense of self — a sense of one’s totality, both interior and exterior, and this was important to us who were young, inadequate and insecure. But it was not enough to dwell on oneself. One would have to die a little every day and live for others. Among the many dichotomies and ambivalences of life that needed balancing, the most important balancing act of one’s life would be between self and selflessness.

In English 3 and 4, Ms. Dadufalza proclaimed that literature contained some of the greatest teachings and discourses on religious and philosophical thought. She said she would use literature to teach us values. While her Catholic faith was strong, it was unconventional and open-minded. Hers was a personalized religion. She adhered to her beliefs, even as she opened our eyes to other philosophies, including Eastern thought and beliefs. She had her own views on truth, goodness and beauty, but she tolerated others’ views. When confronted with the question of good and evil, human suffering, the “suffering of innocents” and “who is responsible,” we searched for answers in the biblical story of “paradise lost” and the “tree of the forbidden fruit — the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” “The Brothers Karamazov,” and “The Book of Job.” Knowledge brought us a sense of responsibility and with it — torment.

Dadufalza was filled with the zest for life. We know that her natural instincts were strong and she displayed passion for the objects and subjects of her interest, whether it was a human being, a literary work, a visual work of art, theater, music, song or dance. She was also full of humor and laughter. In class, she came through to us with compelling thoughts conveyed in a most passionate, intense and convincing way. While Dadufalza was principally a humanist, she, too, was a naturalist who believed in the beauty and importance of nature and the continuity, evolution and unity of lower life forms, to higher life forms and man. She called herself the “spiritual widow” of Teilhard de Chardin, from whom she drew novel insights from the patterns and designs in biological structures and evolution seen by this philosopher-paleontologist-“seer.”

Ms. Dadufalza served her students and, I know, she served her family, caring for her mother through illness. She loved and served UP and committed to do extension work till she was no longer physically able. Most of her charitable and generous acts, however, I know, remain private or unspoken of. Like the Little Prince, she cared and “tamed” and didn’t ask or care for reciprocation.

I thank Ms. Dadufalza for the lasting gifts to us of the life of the mind, the spirit, of passion and the senses, a sense of responsibility and service, and her unwavering faith in God. To me, she possessed the qualities of each of the three Karamazov brothers, who seem to represent different human types battling in the arena of life. Like Ivan, she had an incisive and critical mind. Like Dmitri, she lived generously and loved passionately, and like Alyosha, she was a woman of God.

It is said that the true mark and legacy of a great teacher are students living and reinventing, permutating the teachings and passing on the same fervor, values and passion of the teacher to the next generation. May Dadufalza live in us, her students, for a very long time in what we think, say and do. In particular, I would like to thank Ms. Dadufalza on behalf of fellow scientists and those in related fields, who were mentored by her invaluably in the practice of science which, for me, is but a refinement of rational, analytical and integrative thinking, fueled by the creative spirit and a passion for discovery.

Thank you, Ms. Dadufalza.

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Gisela P. Padilla-Concepcion, Ph.D. is a professor at the UP Marine Science Institute (www.msi.upd.edu.ph) where she teaches graduate courses and leads research on marine drug discovery and biomedical research. She is a co-editor of the ISI-listed, online, free access journal Philippine Science Letters (www.philsciletters.org), an academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) (www.nast.ph), current president of the Philippine American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE)(www.paase.org), and current vice president for academic affairs of the UP System (www.up.edu.ph). E-mail at [email protected].