THE CONSERVATORY of Music celebrated its first-ever St. Thomas Aquinas Award winner during the 2024 UST Student Awards Day held on May 24 at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Deiniel Sanchez, a French horn major, received the St. Thomas Aquinas Award, which honors students who have earned the Rector’s Award along with two additional personal awards.
Sanchez won the Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award in the Academic Year (AY) 2021-2022, the Pope John Paul II Outstanding Achievement Award in AY 2022-2023, and the Rector’s Award for Academic Excellence in AY 2023-2024 for earning a general weighted average of 1.079, the highest in the Conservatory.
Sanchez was among the 340 awardees in this year’s UST Student Awards Day.
In his opening remarks, Fr. Isaias Tiongco, O.P., the acting rector, encouraged the honorees to uphold UST’s legacy “with pride and integrity.”
“Today, we celebrate achievements and honor the spirit of excellence, resilience, and unwavering dedication our students have demonstrated,” Tiongco said. “In this grand continuum of excellence, they stand not just as awardees, but as embodiments of our core values.”
Leading this year’s group of Rector’s Academic Award recipients was Averille Sacapaño from the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics.
Sacapaño garnered a general weighted average of 1.050 to become the valedictorian of Batch 2024.
The other Rector’s Academic Award honorees were as follows:
- Bro. Gian Estrella – 1.127 (Faculty of Sacred Theology)
- Bro. Wesley Soguilon – 1.118 (Faculty of Philosophy)
- Kharam Molbog – 95.602 (Faculty of Medicine and Surgery)
- Kyle Cabtit – 1.055 (Faculty of Pharmacy)
- Kyla Puricil – 1.083 (Faculty of Arts and Letters)
- JF Cortez – 1.151 (Faculty of Engineering)
- Shane Mia – 1.064 (College of Education)
- Vinz Tatad – 1.070 (College of Science)
- Paul Catama – 1.314 (College of Architecture)
- Andrea Ariola – 1.184 (College of Commerce and Business Administration)
- Deiniel Sanchez – 1.079 (Conservatory of Music)
- Angelo Urfano – 1.243 (College of Nursing)
- Tricia Pascual – 1.143 (College of Rehabilitation Sciences)
- Rita Layug – 1.103 (College of Fine Arts and Design)
- Alexia Guadalupe – 1.241 (AMV-College of Accountancy)
- Maridel Capistrano and Patricia Sacay – 1.052 (College of Tourism and Hospitality Management)
- Athena Patricio – 1.062 (College of Information and Computing Sciences).
UST also honored 10 student leaders with the Quezon Leadership Award: Varsitarian editor in chief John Ezekiel Hirro; Paolo Alejandrino and Trixie Bautista of the Faculty of Arts and Letters; Mary Pascua of the College of Commerce and Business Administration; John Carta, Earl Lagman, and Ma. Anci Talamayan of the Faculty of Pharmacy; Jeffrey Castillo and Fr. Francis Escaño of the Graduate School; and Nicole Olvido of the College of Nursing.
The Varsitarian was also honored with the Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award for its successes in the 2023 Catholic Social Media Awards and the 10th Philippine Student Quill Awards, and received the St. Dominic de Guzman Award, which is given to groups demonstrating exceptional teamwork, for its extra-editorial activities, including the 25th Inkblots and the 9th UST National Campus Journalism Awards.
Six other UST organizations received the St. Dominic de Guzman Award.
Meanwhile, a total of 53 students were honored with the Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award, which is conferred on students or organizations that had achieved recognition for exemplary work in the academic or scientific field.
The Pope John Paul II Outstanding Achievement Award, conferred on Thomasians who had excelled in sports and the arts, was given to 34 students and 10 UST varsity teams.
Nearly 200 Thomasian student-researchers were recognized with the St. Albertus Magnus Award for outstanding research work.
Construction magnate Alice Eduardo, a College of Commerce and Business Administration alumna, was the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony.
In her address, Eduardo shared her personal “keys to success” with the honorees: building the self, building courage, building relationships, building faith, and building for others.
“Success only means nothing unless it is shared. After you have made something for yourself, contribute to the community. Find causes that mean something to you,” she said.
UST conducts the annual Student Awards Day to kickstart the “graduation season” in the University and to recognize Thomasians’ excellence in various aspects, including academic, community development, leadership, and teamwork. Ernest Martin G. Tuazon
