Is UST ready for its quadricentennary?

WITH a little more than a year to go, anticipation and excitement are building up for UST’s quadricentennial celebrations in 2011, and so are expectations for the once-in-a-lifetime event.

For the year-long event, officials have drawn up big plans consisting of a grand Christmas concert and “Paskuhan,” the unveiling of a new monument and a new University gym costing almost P800 million, an international conference and trade exposition, and even a song-writing contest.

The rationale behind the seemingly broad outlines for UST’s quadricentennial festivities is to show the University’s place in witnessing Philippine history, as well as in shaping it.

“The University wants to reaffirm its significant role in nation-building and service to the Church through its resemblance of moral integrity in four centuries,” Office for Public Affairs Director Giovanna Fontanilla said.

An organizing committee called the Quadricentennial Commission has been tasked by Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. to make sure all activities set for 2011 push through.

The commission had listed a series of events and programs inspired by theme taken out of the University hymn, “Imbued with Unending Grace,” for the quadricentennial. One of them is the quadricentennial song-writing contest launched last August, open to Thomasian students, faculty, employees, and alumni.

“Winners shall be awarded on December 10 this year, but judges also have the reserved right not to declare any winner in case the entries fall short of quality,” Fontanilla said.

The winning piece will be first heard on December 18, in time for the “400 days to 400 years” countdown.

The launching of the quadricentennial prayer, mascot and countdown clock, as well as the raising of the quadricentennial flag will also be done that day, highlighting this year’s Paskuhan.

A coffee table book will be published to commemmorate UST’s 400-year history, containing archival photographs, lithographs, and stories about the University’s rich heritage.

Premier Thomasian writers like Florentino Hornedo, Ophelia Dimalanta, Jose Victor Torres, and Varsitarian publications adviser Joselito Zulueta are working on the coffee table book. But the main supervisor of the coffee table book, Jaime Romero, has left UST abruptly, leading to delays.

Fontanilla, however, said the coffee table book would be out by 2010, to be followed by the 2011 supplement on 2012.

Office for Alumni Relations Director Evelyn Songco said her office was also working double-time to contact Thomasian alumni to pull off two major activities: the Thomasian Global Trade Expo, which would gather all successful Thomasian alumni, and the “Thomasian Missions 400.”

The Rector first announced the latter project in his report for school year 2008-2009 last September 4. He said the project would be in partnership with the Gawad Kalinga, the popular shelter movement of the Catholic lay group Couples for Christ.

“Aside from these two activities, we are hopeful that the sports complex would be completed on time so that the construction of the Thomasian Alumni Center would eventually follow,” Songco said.

Facilities and Management Office Director Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P. shared the same sentiment, saying that operational or not, the sports complex should be blessed before the quadricentennial celebration ends.

“We are rushing the [construction of the] sports complex because it’s complicated. It would contain concessionaires, and probably an oval at the rooftop. So we really hope it would be blessed by 2011,” he said.

It was only last July when the construction of the sports complex began, following the Vatican’s written “clearance.”

UST will also host the International Conference of the International Council of the Universities of St. Thomas Aquinas, where “relevant challenges and opportunities related to higher education in the light of St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy” are expected to be discussed.

The much-awaited unveiling of the 18-feet Tetraglobal sculpture, designed by alumnus Ramon Orlina, will be on Jan. 28, 2011, feast day of Saint Thomas Aquinas. It will also serve as the grand opening of the University’s quadricentennial festivities.

“The year-long celebration will be culminated by a grand heritage Christmas concert on December 2011,” Fontanilla said.

There are more projects lined up for UST’s 400th year, Fontanilla said, but did not want to reveal them.

“We are prepared. We are now drumbeating toward 2011. We just don’t want to broadcast all the activities yet so that an element of surprise would be established,” she said.

She also called on every Thomasian to take an active part in the preparations and the celebration itself.

For Hornedo, some of the activities may have already been compromised by lack of time.

“All the projects are feasible, but I think the time left won’t be enough to accomplish all of them,” Hornedo said.

Members of the Quadricentennial Commission are De la Rosa (chairman), Vice Rector Fr. Pablo Tiong, O.P., (vice chairman), Pilar Romero, assistant to the Rector for administration (secretary); Fontanilla (publicity committee chairwoman); Songco (external relations committee chairwoman); Pinto (major infrastructure projects chairman); Ramon Sin, assistant to the Rector for grants and endowment (quadricentennial committee chairman); and Secretary General Fr. Isidro Abaño, O.P (grand celebration chairman). Rose May Y. Cabacang and Alexis Ailex C. Villamor, Jr.