Nov. 30 2016, 4:55 p.m. – “SUPERSTARS” of the Faculty of Arts and Letters returned to UST on Tuesday to mark the 120th anniversary of the “big little college.”

Artlets’ longest-serving dean, philosophy professor Magdalena Villaba, former dean Belen Tangco and ex-professors Reynaldo “Bong” Lopez, Ramon “Bong” Osorio, Jose David Lapuz, Irene Lising and others joined the celebration at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Alumni Center.

Regent Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P. boasted of Artlets as the college that gives UST its “pomp and pageantry.”

“It’s an honor to have rubbed elbows with the likes of poet Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta … journalists like Lito Zulueta,” Aligan said in an inspirational message, referring to the late former dean and Philippine Daily Inquirer editor, respectively.

Fr. Aligan said alumni of the faculty should be thankful to their professors for opening their eyes and making them understand the world from the perspective of the arts and humanities.

Artlets invited former administrators and faculty members to the 120th foundation anniversary celebration, which began with a Mass led by Fr. Aligan.

Prof. Joyce Arriola, literature department head, presented a paper on the history of the faculty in the American colonial period.

Arlets Dean Michael Anthony Vasco cited the faculty’s achievements like accreditation from the government and private accrediting agencies, and faculty members’ scholarships and appointments to different academic organizations.

Among the attendees were award-winning filmmaker Jun Robles Lana, ABS-CBN corporate affairs chief Kane Choa and bar topnotcher Arlene Maneja.

The Faculty of Arts and Letters, formerly the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (Philets), was established in 1896, making it the oldest liberal arts college in the country.

In 1964, it was renamed the Faculty of Arts and Letters, with the merger of bachelor of arts programs into the old Philets from the defunct College of Liberal Arts.

It was the well-loved Dean Villaba who called Artlets “the big little college” for the feats of its students and alumni.

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