My previous entry has tackled the story of the quadricentennarian institution that is the University of Santo Tomas, (UST) and the situation that arose by its tricentennial celebration that made it consider to relocate elsewhere so it could meet those needs. The plan was put in place even before the tricentennial, when the Dominicans decided the buy a 21.5 (22 according to some sources) hectare land in Sampaloc, an area known as Sulucan Hills. (interestingly, Sulucan came from either the Tagalog word “sulok” or corner because its location or from “nakikisulok” or living with another’s house which was the situation at the turn of the century as people scrounging for…
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Born within the walls: University of Santo Tomas in Intramuros
The year 2011 marks the quadricentennary of the Philippines’ oldest university continuously in existence: the University of Santo Tomas. Throughout its history, it has truly come a long way to become one of the country’s leading educational institutions. But this journey would not have been possible in the first place had it not been in the will of Manila’s 3rd Archbishop Miguel de Benavides that he would bequeath his library and property for the establishment of an educational institution. It would be 6 years after his death in 1605, that this dream was fully realized with the founding of what was then known as the Colegio Seminario de Santo Tomas…