Dean's message
October
24,
2008
Message delivered during the "SURP:43@100" Grand
Alumni Homecoming
On behalf of the
UP SURP, its faculty and staff,
I warmly welcome all of you to this homecoming.
We are glad that
you are able to come to this memorable event --- the UP SURP’s 43rd
founding anniversary. We are happy to see our graduates, former
faculty members and good friends at this gathering. I know you are
quite excited to catch up with former classmates and teachers whom you
have not seen for a long time.
This is a time
for reminiscing about school days, rekindling old friendships,
establishing old and new contacts and just enjoying the company of one
another.
Some people look
the same as they did in their youthful days, while others have
changed; the men have become more handsome despite losing hair and
gaining more forehead – or shall I say face? The ladies are more
beautiful, and some remained single, while others multiplied fast.
Even some of us who used to be skinny have now become robust. Some
guys who were underweight when they were students are now
heavyweights.
Many things have
changed, as time has passed us by quite quickly. We had some
colleagues who went ahead and finished their journeys early on. We
cherish their memories and miss their company.
Despite the fast
changing world, however, some things have not changed much. We believe
that your love for our School has not changed. We still feel your
concern for SURP and we sense UP blood running in your veins, whatever
that may mean.
We are always
proud of our alumni who represent the ideals of our School; you are
our ambassadors – the products of our humble institution.
We take pride in
our faculty members, then and now, for giving you a good if not the
best education in planning; we will always remember them for their
sacrifices, noble ideals and invaluable contributions to the field of
planning. Working in UP is a big sacrifice; it’s just like entering
priesthood wherein you take a vow of poverty and spend less time with
your family and friends. Nonetheless, teaching in UP brings great
rewards; we produce fulfilled people like you.
The school you
left 2 decades ago physically looks more or less the same. (Archt.)
Jun Palafox wants to preserve our pre-fab building because it has now
become a heritage that brings pride to its alumni. However, our
faculty, staff members, and current students want a new building with
modern teaching facilities. We are caught in the middle.
When our
graduates are asked by their children: "saan po kayo nag-aral dito
sa UP?" And they point to our prefab building – "D'yan, 'yan ang
school ko"; the retort that they get is “matanda na rin building
nyo.”
Although our
physical facilities have fully depreciated, SURP as an institution has
accumulated a wealth of knowledge through the years and will continue
to become wealthier through time. Our facilities just need to keep up
with the wealth of knowledge that we generate. We need your support to
attain this goal.
We appeal to our
alumni and friends to help us out in whatever way you can, so that we
can put up a new building and modern facilities. With better
facilities, we can further improve in our teaching and research
functions. We will also be able to provide better services and
continue producing high quality graduates and planners such as
yourselves.
This is your
evening. Enjoy it and have fun!
Dr. CANDIDO A. CABRIDO, JR.
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