AN OUTSTANDING alumna awardee on Friday reminded Thomasians to always uphold the values and lessons instilled in them by UST, even as they embark on their individual journeys after graduation.
In her speech on behalf of the 2024 The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni (Total) awardees, Sr. Maria Marissa Viri, president of the University of Immaculate Conception in Davao City, highlighted the enduring impact of UST on its graduates.
“The journey begins with a dream, desire, drive, and determination to be a Thomasian, which means learning and imbibing the ideals of the Thomasian education and living those ideals even beyond our España campus days,” Viri said during the awards ceremony at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, also known as the Thomasian Alumni Center.
“For every Thomasian graduate, the journey continues, wherever life, work, and vocation may take him or her. At the end of the course, the graduates may leave UST, but their Thomasian education and formation never leave them,” she added. “UST never leaves us.”
Viri obtained her undergraduate and master’s degrees in pharmacy from UST in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
She recalled attending UST at a time when the University had yet to introduce its now-traditional welcome rites, which include the symbolic passage through the Arch of the Centuries.
“[We] may not have had such a dramatic start to our Thomasian journey,” she said. “For many, if not all of us, our Thomasian journey [began] long before our first walk through or around the Arch of the Centuries.”
Viri eventually made a mark in the field of education, becoming the first female president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, the country’s largest network of Catholic schools, in 2020.
She was feted with the Distinguished Thomasian Alumni Award in 2023. On Sept. 27, she was further recognized with the Total Award, the highest honor conferred by UST upon its graduates, along with 12 other individual recipients and a family.
“We encourage all Thomasians to embrace the values of the Total Award in their own lives. May the Total Award we received be a lamp that would guide us in upholding the values of our alma mater.”
The other 2024 Total awardees are as follows:
- Alice Eduardo (Accountancy, Business, and Management)
- Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier (Law and Judiciary)
- Nestor Cuartero (Media and Entertainment)
- Asst. Prof. Lito Zulueta (Media and Entertainment)
- Dr. Catherine Teh (Medicine)
- Edgar Doctor (Music, Arts, Literature, and Design)
- Jose Pedro Recio (Music, Arts, Literature, and Design)
- Hasan Fard (Science and Technology)
- Grace Tan Caktiong (Service to Humanity)
- Assoc. Prof. Pilar Romero (Service to the Church)
- Paul Anthony Pangilinan (Young Thomasian Achiever)
- Ling Family (Special Award)
- Mariano “Morris” Agoncillo (pPosthumous award)
READ: Construction magnate Alice Eduardo, ‘V’ adviser Lito Zulueta among 2024 outstanding alumni
UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P., lauded the awardees for being “vital threads” in the “fabric of our University’s history.”
“Striving for the highest standards requires channeling one’s energy to drive progress within communities and bring about meaningful transformation,” Ang said. “This is the commendable path our Total awardees have chosen.”
Since 1993, UST has conferred the Total Award on 290 alumni and 10 Thomasian families in recognition of their significant contributions to society and the Church. Ella Mae A. Sison
