For Academia

UST Rector seeks for shared leadership; welcomes about

5,000 Grade 11 students
As the University of Santo Tomas (UST) opened a new academic year,
UST Rector Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., who was installed to a second
term, calls for a shared leadership to make the University relevant
amid the changing times.
The realization of our mission does not rest only on the shoulder of
the rectorit is a shared goal of all centers of the academic community
in which everyone should contribute to its function, Fr. Dagohoy, said
during the installation rites last August 2 at the UST Chapel.
Shared leadership does not refer to a single person, but of the
community. It provides a unifying force amidst individualism, he
added.
Fr. Dagohoys four-year rectorship coincides with the implementation of
the Department of Educations K-12 program and the Dominican
Orders 800th Jubilee this year and the eve of the 500th year of
Philippine Christianization in 2021.
I asked God to bless me not only with courage and wisdom but most
of all with love. That kind of love which according to Mother Teresa,
never knows how to get tired, the love that is faithful in doing small
things, the love likened to a stone cast into the water that creates
many ripples, he said.
The Rector aims for the Thomasian education to welcome the 21st
century and be responsive to it. He asked for the Thomasian
communitys generosity as these challenges require sacrifices.
I know that we will be able to transcend our personal or sectorial
interests and seek the good of all. In seeking the common good, we
reaffirm the significant influence of the communal dimension of
Catholic schooling that makes Catholic universities different from
others, Fr. Dagohoy said.

Dominican Province Vicar Provincial Fr. Filemon de la Cruz, Jr., O.P. led
the start of Academic Year 2016-2017 with the traditional Misa de
Apertura (Opening Mass), which was concelebrated by UST Vice Rector
Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. and UST Secretary-General Fr. Winston Cabading,
O.P. together with the Dominican Fathers.
The celebration of the opening Mass speaks of who we are and it
flows to our very identity as a Catholic educational institution. This
mass is important because it encloses everything we do in the
University in a perspective of faith and mission, Fr. De la Cruz said.
Fr. Dagohoy vowed to uphold the Catholic teachings as head of Asias
only Pontifical University in his profession of faith and oath of fidelity.
His reappointment was approved by the Vatican and was read by UST
Secretary-General Fr. Winston F. Cabading, O.P. during the installation
ceremony.
Fr. De la Cruz and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Dr. Clarita Carillo
assisted Fr. Dagohoy in wearing the Rectors collar, which symbolizes
the supreme teaching authority of the Rector.
UST Vice Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. and Vice Rector for Research and
Innovation Dr. Maribel Nonato, meanwhile, presented to the Rector two
silver maces, which represents the temporal academic and spiritual
orders the Rector has to exhibit while in office. Vice Rector for Finance
Fr. Manuel F. Roux, O.P. handed to Fr. Dagohoy the Rectors cap.
New Thomasians
With the change of Philippine educational system, UST welcomed
nearly 5,000 Grade 11 studentspioneers of the newly formed UST
Senior High School and some 600 Grade 7 students of the UST Junior
High School and Education High School, according to the Office of the
Registrar.
As a result of the K-12 transition this year, UST only received about
3,200 college freshmen in 18 academic programs. They were formally
recognized as members of the UST community in the annual
Thomasian Welcome Walk held last August 5, when they passed
through the historic Arch of the Centuries and began their campus
journey.
Classes began last August 9.#AV