After halting its print edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Varsitarian, the 94-year-old official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas, will come out with a special Paskuhan print issue on Dec. 15.
Copies of the Paskuhan issue will be available on newsstands in the campus, and at the Varsitarian office (Rm. 105, Tan Yan Kee Student Center).
The publication stopped producing physical copies of its newspaper at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Varsitarian adopted a work-from-home arrangement to deal with the suspension of in-person classes.
Its last pre-pandemic print edition was published on Jan. 9, 2020, with a banner story about former UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy’s achievements during his term.
Amid the pandemic, the publication focused on heightening its online presence with more digital-friendly content and utilized the publication platform Issuu to release its digital issues.
It also introduced virtual editions of its extra-editorial activities, namely the UST National Campus Journalism Awards, Creative Writing Workshop, Inkblots, and Pautakan.
Digital issues of the Varsitarian will continue to be made available on its Issuu page.
The Varsitarian will mark its 95th anniversary on Jan.16, 2023. It was founded in 1928 by students led by Jose Villa Panganiban, who became the first director of the National Language Institute.
Through the years, the pages of the Varsitarian would be graced by some of the most sterling names in Philippine journalism: Teodoro Valencia, Joe Guevarra, Felix Bautista, Jose Bautista, Joe Burgos, Antonio Siddayao, Jess Sison, Jullie Yap-Daza, Antonio Lopez, Rina Jimenez-David, Neal Cruz, A. O. Flores, Jake Macasaet, Fred Marquez, Mario Hernando, Alfredo Saulo, Alice Colet Villadolid, and Eugenia Duran-Apostol.
The titans of Philippine literature learned writing in the Varsitarian: Bienvenido Lumbera, F. Sionil José, Celso Al Carunungan, Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta, Paz Latorena, Cirilo Bautista, Federico Licsi Espino, Wilfrido Nolledo, Rogelio Sicat, Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, Norma Miraflor, Eric Gamalinda and Vim Nadera.
Varsitarian alumni also distinguished themselves in public service and in other fields – the late Manila Mayor Arsenio H. Lacson, the late Manila Archbishop Artemio Casas, former vice-president Emmanuel Pelaez, the late Sorsogon governor Juan Frivaldo, former senator Francisco Tatad, former Philippine Medical Association president Dr. Vicente Rosales Sr., and National Artist for the Visual Arts J. Elizalde Navarro.
