The University of Santo Tomas officially starts the academic year 2024-2025 in its two campuses with Misa de Apertura (Mass of The Holy Spirit) and Discurso de Apertura (Inaugural Lecture) held at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church inside its Manila branch.
Alaminos Bishop Napoleon Sipalay Jr., O.P. presided over the mass in the Manila campus. Meanwhile, UST Vice-Rector for Finance Fr. Roberto Luanzon Jr., O.P., led the mass in the General Santos City branch. Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Melanie Turingan, Ph.D., shared the rich history of the 413-year-old university in her fruitful lecture.
In his homily, Sipalay said that good school administrators usually have high spiritual standards. The priest also added that if people in authority are highly spiritual, people would follow.
Sipalay also emphasized the importance of prohibiting oneself from engaging in materialistic and earthly things as it affects the community they serve.
“That’s why the antidote for this is to live in the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit is something that would help us to counter these living in the life of the flesh because the life of the flesh is centered on one’s freedom that is unbridled.”
Sipalay served as the University’s vice chancellor from 2016 to 2021 before being delegated as the bishop of the Diocese of Alaminos in Pangasinan.
Student priests, university officials and administrators from various faculties attended the annual Misa de Apertura. Sipalay made history as he officially opened the school year 2024-2025 in both the Manila and General Santos campuses before giving the final blessings of the Mass.
“I have the privilege to declare the academic year 2024-2025 in the University of Santo Tomas Manila and UST General Santos officially open.”
Turingan’s lecture, titled “Imbued with Unending Grace: A History and Legacy of the University of Santo Tomas” focused on the more than four-century heritage of the España-based university, from its humble beginnings in Intramuros to its expansion in the southern island of Mindanao.
The Faculty of Arts dean started her lecture by instilling the “real essence” of being a Thomasian, and what makes the university stand out from the rest — aside from being the oldest in Asia.
“Besides being the oldest, what else? What makes this institution distinct from the rest?” Turingan asked.
She cited the university’s growth, its expansions among the courses offered, to being part of some key historical events made UST a home of national cultural treasures.
Discurso de Apertura has long been part of the University’s practice in its opening exercises.
