UST's big birthday bash: Tradition and change

MANILA, Philippines -  The ladies came in floor-length gowns, the men in barong Tagalog, to attend the thanksgiving Mass and alumni dinner that capped the week-long celebration of the University of Santo Tomas’ 400th anniversary.

The sea of humanity, however, that flocked to the sprawling 21-hectare campus on España St. in Manila last week of January came from all walks of life, mostly students and alumni of Asia’s oldest university. The young came in jeans and golden yellow shirts, which is the school color. Office workers came in business suits and corporate garb straight from their offices, the others simply in their Sunday best. Babies in strollers, grandparents in wheel chairs, toddlers and older children came, too. It was, at its best, a Thomasian family affair.

Blessed with good weather and fine food, the school’s birthday bash was festive yet subdued. There was light (lots of it around the campus), people milling about everywhere, balloons, lighted candles and an unbelievably long line to the tent where centennial souvenirs and other memorabilia were sold. Yet there was no ruckus, no noise, no commercial banners or stalls endorsing commercial products that are so characteristic of school occasions. There was only light banter and an atmosphere of peace and calm, which was probably how the Dominican fathers would have wanted it  jubilant but contemplative.

The march of hundreds of bishops from the landmark UST Main Building to the school quadrangle was a reminder that this was, after all, Asia’s premier Catholic school, the royal and pontifical university. And at the end of the parade were Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and the Vatican’s representative to the occasion, His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Legate of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Outside the campus on busy and congested España street, traffic stood at a standstill as Thomasians gathered for an age-old ritual of a community in worship and thanksgiving.

“I come to manifest the Holy Father’s desire to all of you and to encourage the university to continue the good work that for centuries it has accomplished for the benefit of the faithful,” said Cardinal Grocholewski. “Today’s feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, after whom this university is named, provides a fitting occasion to help us to reflect on the work of God and its message for us as we mark the 400 years of the University of Santo Tomas.” 

While not everybody who ever studied in UST was Catholic, and many alumni who were Catholics have since drifted to other religions or no longer practicing the faith, though many still remain devout and committed, it is the Catholic tradition that binds everyone who had ever passed its doorsteps.

The Thomasian family, united in thanksgiving, light candles to usher in a new century for the school. Photos by Bernard Decloedt

This alumni still remembers vividly the overnight prayer and rosary vigils for peace during the turbulent pre- and post-EDSA revolution era, the fathers’ call for social justice, human compassion and genuine reform in government in those chaotic times, the Masses celebrated at each university occasion, the prayers said before each class, the four theology subjects required for all students, the Spanish classes that everyone had to take even long after the education department had made it optional in the college curriculum.

“We desire that, in the future, too, it will take care to give young people a proper education, in such as what that first place may be given to the faith in Christ, which is more certain than all human knowledge, because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie,” said Pope Benedict XVI in his letter appointing Grocholewski as the papal legate.

The Pope merely affirmed the university’s desire for continuity amid inevitable change. He also appeared in a video message from his Vatican desk.

“The popes of our times have thought of the university as being more than just a place for the church... A university is more than just a place to impart information or to provide training in skills intended for some economic benefits to society,” said Grocholewski in the homily.

“Recently, Pope Benedict XVI, speaking about education, said that education is not and must never be considered as purely utilitarian; it is about forming the human person, equipping him to live life to the full. In short, it is about imparting wisdom, the most genuine and comprehensive purpose of a university then is to impart wisdom,” he continued.

This Literature major of more than 20 years ago has heard it another way. “To read is to understand the human condition, to write is to give it new meaning,” or something to that effect.

Coming back to the university after many years of absence, students of long ago would easily note the changes in the newly spruced up campus.

The Main Building’s front yard, which used to be just an ordinary road where cars and students pass inconsequentially, was refurbished in 2006 and is now a plaza that enhances the structural magnificence of the Main Building. Plaza Mayor, as it is now called, was the venue for the glittering alumni dinner held after the quadricentennial Mass on January 28. Many alumni dressed to the nines with that fresh-from-the-parlor look were asking around: Where is Plaza Mayor?

The area in front of St. Raymund’s Building, which houses the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Business Administration near the Dapitan gate, used to be a waiting shed where students congregated before and after classes. Now standing there is a six-story building that houses the Miguel Benavides Library, which is the repository of the university’s books and 400-year history.

The area fronting the UST Hospital, which used to be just an ordinary park, now has a parking building and a row of restaurants. But the newest addition to the structures is the quadricentennial square, which features an interactive fountain and al fresco sites.

At the center of the square is Ramon Orlina’s “Tetraglobal,” unveiled the day before the quadricentennial celebration. The landmark sculpture features four figures: two students, a professor, and a Dominican priest.

With the university’s emphasis on heritage, history and tradition, there are, however, many things that will remain unchanged. The UST Main Building, which is the school’s most enduring symbol, will always be the focal point of its identity. Known as the first earthquake-resistant building in the Philippines inaugurated in 1927, it was the masterpiece of a Thomasian engineer, Fr. Roque Ruaño, O.P., who once served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.

Hundreds of bishops concelebrate the quadricentennial mass. Photos by Bernard Decloedt

For almost a century, Thomasians have gazed at the magnificent structure upon entrance to the university from the España gate, but there is still one piece of history that greets students and visitors, the Arch of the Centuries.

According to the UST website, this historic arch “was the original entrance to the university when the campus was still in Intramuros during the years from 1611 to 1941.” After the war, its ruins were put together to form the present arch, which was transferred to the present campus.

Students, alumni and faculty who made it to the grand celebration on January 28 will, however, remember the school grounds bathed in candlelight as torch-bearing Dominican priests, brothers and students went around the field to light everyone’s candles.

“The light we bear is a symbol of Christ, the Light of the World. We received this light when we were baptized. We vowed to spread this light when we were confirmed. We fulfill this vow when we faithfully respond to our sacred calling as Thomasians,” declared Rector Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P.