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AN INVITATION TO A LIFELONG PARTNERSHIP
by
Nick B. Fontanilla, Ph.D. (Word
Document)
Dr. Oscar Suarez, President and Trustee, Philippine Christian University
and concurrently Officer-In-Charge of Union Theological Seminary;
Professor Jovy Reyes, Vice-President for Academic Affairs; Mrs. Ros
Aquino, Treasurer; Program Coordinators Drs. Portia A. Rivera and
Revelino D. Garcia; Deans of the different colleges in the Dasmarinas
Campus; University Faculty and Staff; Parents; Fellow Graduates;
Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning.
I owe this opportunity to be with you this morning to the committee
directly in charge of the Commencement Exercises and the Vice-President
for Academic Affairs who opted to invite a member of the Board of
Trustees, instead of a prominent personality, to speak in the 32nd
commencement exercises of the Philippine Christian University,
Dasmarinas Campus. I should, however, qualify that I am here not only
because I was invited. I am here because I love this institution and
because I consider it a great privilege to be part of this annual event.
More importantly, I am here because we who are part of the church and
the governing body of this University consider you, all of you, as our
partners – since your first day in the University and in perpetuity.
Partnership in Perpetuity
I am not exaggerating when I say “in perpetuity”. Our partnership does
not end after you get your diploma. It continues –
When you look for a job;
When you are considered for a promotion;
When you transfer to another company for greener pastures;
When you apply for graduate studies;
When you apply for overseas employment and even when you travel for
leisure;
It continues when you fall in love and you share your school life with
your special someone;
When you raise a family and you teach the value of Christian education
to your children and grandchildren;
When you are recognized for your achievements in industry or in
government;
When you migrate and you submit your educational profile;
When you want to teach, full time or part time, and your employer
requires full academic credentials;
It continues even when you are old and grey and you want to reconnect
to your early years;
When you retire and reunions start to preoccupy your life; and
When you are gone and people recognize your achievements posthumously,
and when your possessions and records become museum pieces.
Our partnership and your linkage with this university will definitely
endure and persist. It is part of tradition. It is part of a prescribed
management system. At the same time, it has practical benefits. However,
there are going to be occasions when this partnership would manifest
itself for a specific purpose.
Some years back, the Ateneo community, with the Alumni as the lead
group, embarked on a program to make Ateneo the UAAP basketball
champion. That campaign produced stars like Villanueva, Alvarez, and
Gonzalez who are now playing in the PBA. The Ateneo community
accomplished this goal after two years, but with much support from the
Alumni – training, physical conditioning, financing and many more. It
was a vision that involved the active participation of the Alumni. Union
Theological Seminary is tapping her alumni to help in the preparation
for and celebration of UTS’ centennial year.
There will also be occasions when this partnership would become more
colorful and challenging such as when external factors or policy
decisions threaten a University’s heritage and tradition. I can recall
parallel events that happened in other schools.
For example, Bosconians successfully blocked the sale of the Makati
campus and the transfer of this campus to another location outside of
Metro Manila;
Maryknoll alumni protested when administrators decided to change the
name of the school to Mirriam; The name has since been changed but the
alumni involvement to this issue remains.
Graduates of Mapua Institute of Technology are protesting the change
from Mapua to Malayan Institute of Technology.
University of the Philippines alumni blocked the conversion of the
Diliman campus into a commercial center. That project remains in the
pipeline but I am sure that the moment the proposal is re-considered,
the U.P. community will find ways to block the project.
In the last election, the U.P. alumni successfully mounted a text
campaign against the re-election of a Senator who, as Chairman of the
Finance Committee, cut the budget of the University by a significant
percentage. He is now an ex-senator.
In these examples, graduates reconnected with their alma mater for a
specific purpose – to protect their heritage and keep the community
intact. They found a common cause to be together and to establish or
re-establish their school ties.
On the other hand, schools purposely call on their alumni for support,
to attend ceremonies and programs, to participate in major activities
and to tap their services for specific engagements and projects. Schools
keep an active file of their graduates for various reasons.
I am also an alumnus of Ateneo de Manila University and University of
the Philippines. Ateneo regularly sends me mailers that inform me about
the projects and programs of the University. I get to learn about the
latest professorial chairs, scholarships, sports programs and cultural
events. Yesterday, I received a full-color Easter Card with this
message: As you celebrate Easter, may the glory of God’s miracle renew
your hopes, your faith and your joy.
Even the University of the Philippines actively communicates with her
alumni, tens of thousands of them. Last year I successfully hurdled a
professional exam to become a Certified Professional Marketer in Asia, a
very prestigious title among marketing practitioners in Asia. As soon as
it was announced in the newspapers, I received a letter from the
Vice-President for Academic Affairs congratulating me for this
accomplishment. I was impressed. I never thought that a government
university would have the initiative and resources to maintain a profile
of her graduates, monitor news and events in print and TV, and recognize
professional achievements.
An Ideal Partnership
These experiences, even if these are my own, tell us that the moment you
enter a school, you covenant yourself to a lifelong partnership with
that school. Conversely, the school knowingly and willingly binds
herself to the same contract for a lasting relationship with the
student.
The school is duty bound to keep this mandate – as a guardian of alumni
records and for economic reasons. On the other hand, graduates consider
this covenant as an important part of their academic accomplishment and
for economic reasons.
Given that, it becomes expedient for both the school and the students to
harness this relationship for mutually beneficial purposes, a
relationship that is synergistic and one that optimizes the benefits to
both.
As you receive your diploma today and prepare yourself for the
challenges of the future, I propose a purposive and deliberate
partnership between you and the university along four elements: campus
development; continuing education; community development; and Christian
mission.
Development. First, I propose a partnership based on the element of
physical change. The present administration is embarking on a planned
development of the three campuses – the Dasmarinas Campus consisting of
97 hectares, Taft Campus which is slightly less than a hectare, and the
Malvar Campus, which is less than half a hectare.
In the history of the Philippine Christian University, every president
made an effort to initiate a plan for the development of the vast
property of the university and implement this plan. That much I can say.
Development is a mandate of the 1978 merger that created the Philippine
Christian University. It is also the mandate of the people who had the
vision to invest in this vast property. As of today, however, we have
not seen the fulfillment of this mandate. Why?
Personally, I have been part of several development programs – those
that involved the deliberate and long-term development of the physical
plant, in other words, development programs that attempted significant
change of the physical resources -- in substance, in design and in
number. My experience is that whenever such a change is initiated, about
90% to 95% of stakeholders express their resistance to change, one way
or the other.
In other countries, particularly the developed economies, stakeholders
demand change – positive and continuing change. They expect no less.
Stakeholders of commercial enterprises are even more demanding. Thus, we
see many institutions in Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore,
Malaysia, Australia and Japan constantly introducing continuous
improvements and change.
Unfortunately, which is a reality that we have to face, it is not so in
the Philippines. In this country, we seriously internalize the principle
of conservatism – as it applies in accounting, in finance, in
engineering, in human resource management, in development, and in all
other aspects of corporate governance.
As a result, our industries are no longer as competitive as it was 30
years ago. Moreover, the type and magnitude of investments in the
manufacturing sector don’t seem to support a move towards reclaiming
this competitive position in the global market.
Our education sector is in the same predicament. Our tertiary schools
failed to keep up with global developments. Thus, in international
ranking, our best schools are below the median range. They struggle near
the bottom of the list. The Asian Institute Management, supposedly the
premier business school in the Philippines and in Asia, is a mini
picture of the Philippines. Infrastructure is deteriorating, laboratory
facilities have not changed much, many of which are obsolete, and the
prevailing culture does not support modernization.
In this partnership, I propose that the University becomes the
implementor of change and development and you, as lifetime partners of
this university, become vigilantes for change – not resistors of change
but conductors of change. As vigilantes for change, you will demand for
continuing and meaningful change. You will audit the fruits of that
change to check if they are according to plan (physical and financial)
and global standards.
Continuing Education. Second, I propose a partnership based on the
element of continuing education and development. Here, we covenant to
keep on upgrading our cognitive, affective and physical skills,
preferably together, if not, wherever you are and whatever you are
doing.
Mark Twain said this about his own education: "I never considered myself
a slow learner. I always felt that teaching just came hard to most of my
instructors" (Steve Goodier, 2005). There are no slow learners, only
schools that are slow to adapt to changes in the environment. As
vigilantes for change, you must demand for new knowledge, new
perspectives and new approaches. Our school owes this much to you and
the community.
Much can be learned when the mind is receptive (Steve Goodier). Much can
be achieved, too, when the body is willing. When I was young, basketball
players of my height could only touch the rim with their best jump. A
few years later, I watched a commercial player who came from Pampanga.
With the same height, he was dunking the ball. I watched the NCAA champ
Dolphins play basketball last year. I was so amazed to see that just
about everyone was dunking the ball and shooting it from 20 to 30 feet
up.
Stephen Moore and Julian Simon wrote a book that documents the human
capacity to excel and to prove that it is getting better all the time.
Let me just tick off some:
Sports
|
1901
|
2000
|
%
|
Greatest weight lift (lbs)
|
4,133
|
6,270
|
52%
|
Fastest 100 meters (seconds)
|
10.6
|
9.79
|
8%
|
Fastest one mile
|
4 min, 12.8 secs
|
3 min, 43 secs
|
12%
|
One hour running
|
11 miles, 932 yds
|
13 miles, 11 yds
|
8%
|
Highest high jump
|
6’ 5”
|
8’
|
23%
|
Highest pole vault
|
11’ 10.5”
|
20’ 14”
|
81%
|
Long jump
|
24’ 7.5”
|
29’ 36”
|
21%
|
Longest shot put
|
48’ 2”
|
75’ 83”
|
15%
|
Longest discuss throw
|
122’ 3.5”
|
242’ 98”
|
98%
|
Longest hammer throw
|
169’ 4”
|
284’ 51”
|
68%
|
Source: Moore & Simon, 2000
These are achievements in the field of sports. Indeed, it is getting
better all time. In the field of business and finance, things are
getting better, too.
As world standards improve, so should our own institutional standards –
in sports, in science, in business and in the arts. As parties to the
covenant for a lifelong partnership, we should seek for and demand from
the university better performance, better skills, and improved
intellectual capital through continuing education.
Wealth Seekers. Third, I propose a partnership based on the element of
community development. I’d like to call this the initiative to seek
wealth, to build capital.
Community development needs wealth seekers, the right kind of wealth
seekers – those who build capital and not those who destroy them. Our
successful wealth seekers are aging and passing on their wealth to their
spoiled and U.S. educated children and grandchildren.
There are many wealth-seeking avenues. Right here in this campus, we can
set up the environment where wealth seeking can evolve into an art.
As part of the development of the university in the next five years, the
academic sub-committee of the master development plan envisions a
university where every unit generates academic and non-academic
revenues, and endeavors to become viable as a unit and to contribute to
the overall viability of the university.
This vision requires a strong partnership between the university and the
community that it represents, which includes faculty, staff, students
and alumni. As you prepare to leave the university, I invite you to be
part of this vision to make the university a center for community
development -- a center for wealth creation.
Christian Mission. Fourth and last, I propose a partnership based on the
element of mission to the youth. Together, we need to address the
problems and opportunities that are inherent on the growing youth
market.
Demographically, the youth sector includes people whose age ranges from
15 to 24 years.
Because of the high growth rate of our population, the age structure is
such that the majority of the country’s population is young with most of
them being adolescents and vulnerable to negative influences, thus
affecting the overall quality of life.
Fortunately, the great majority of them are still open to education,
skills training, the influence of positive role models, and the counsel
of adults who care.
We would like to invite you to a lifelong partnership where we minister
to the
youth, to make them productive members of the society through education.
Call to Action
As you receive your diploma today, consider the partnership that we
started when you first came to the university. This partnership does not
end with the diploma. That diploma merely seals a lifelong partnership –
a partnership that we can direct along four important elements: call to
change; continuing education; wealth creation; and mission.
Like an Eagle
A man found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a
barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up
with them. All his life, the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did,
thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and
insects. He clucked and cackled. And he thrashed his wings and flew a
few feet in the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent
bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among
powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong, golden
wings.
The old eagle looked up in awe. "Who's that?" he asked. "That's the
eagle, the king of the birds," said his neighbor. "He belongs to the
sky. We belong to the earth – we're chickens." So the eagle lived and
died a chicken, for that is what he thought he was. (Author unknown)
In the call to this lifelong partnership, the University wants you to
spread your wings and soar like an eagle and not die as a chicken. You
have done well. We are confident that as you take on life’s challenges,
you are well prepared.
Congratulations and may God bless you all.
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