MANILA, Philippines — The 60th anniversary activities of the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) were recently unveiled in a launch held in Manila Hotel.
The Faculty of Arts and Letters is celebrating its 60th year through a series of activities marked by the theme “A Tradition of Excellence: UST Philets and Artlets since 1896 to 2024.”
The university started to offer courses in Philosophy and Letters in 1896, thus creating the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Its alumni were called "Philets." More than a century later, the university combined Philets with the College of Liberal Arts in 1964, creating the present Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets).
“At present, the Faculty of Arts and Letters is the most diverse tertiary academic unit offering 13 bachelor's degree programs… This academic unit is regarded as one of the biggest in terms of student and academic staff population… We have produced national artists, outstanding media practitioners, noted philosophers and priests, linguists, politicians respected in their field, justices, among other professionals in all pride and ability. I can say that we are not only the oldest but the biggest and the greatest contributor for nation-building,” said current AB Dean Melanie Turingan at the 60th anniversary launch.
The dean also shared the Faculty’s recent feats, which included its status as the Center of Excellence in Philosophy and Center of Development in Communication, Journalism and Literature by the Commission of on Higher Education. It was also recently awarded with an international accreditation by the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) for its Communication and Journalism programs.
Turingan said that they are holding a photo exhibit that looks back at the earlier days of the Faculty. They will also be organizing a thematic concert, co-organized by the Artlets Student Council. The performers for the February 2025 thematic concert are yet to be finalized, but the Faculty is known for its long-list of renowned personalities. They include actors Piolo Pascual and Isay Alvarez and broadcast journalists Arnold Clavio and Sandra Aguinaldo, to name a few.
“I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone and to encourage also through the use of media, our partner media groups, to invite all alumni who have some memorabilia of what you have from the time that you were a student, so that will be able to exhibit it. So that the students will be able to see what we were once. It would make them feel like, ‘Oh, we belong, we all belong.’ If you have something like for example, an old ID, an old uniform or, you know, or that we could exhibit…. So, it's connecting the past to the present,” Turingan said.
UST Philets and Artlets Alumni Association President Henry Tenedero explained why they decided to be inclusive in their 60th year anniversary plans.
“Initially, we were just thinking of celebrating the 60th year from 1964 to 2024. But then again, we said we are what we are today because of our past and that contributes to the Philosophy of Letters,” Tendero said.
The 60th year anniversary will culminate with a gala night on March 1, 2025 with the theme “From Pen to Pixels: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future.”