CELEBRATING THE REBIRTH of Political Science in the University, The Repvblic (TR), the professional organization of the Department of Political Science, featured the milestones that the department has reached throughout the years, alongside its “Yugto” awards ceremony in honor of the contributions of political science students, last May 6 at the Hexagon Events Place in Quezon City.
In her opening remarks, Julienne Allyah Legutan, the 4th Year Batch Representative reminded the visitors of looking back as to where the Political Science Department was. Because of this, she called on the students to “recognize the ties that beind them together” and “be in solidarity” to the “story of triumph, fall and standing up once again – rebirth.”
Followed by Legutan was the speech of Vice Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Dr. Moses Aaron Angeles. In his speech, Vice Dean Angeles talked about truth unchanging from St. Thomas Aquinas. He emphasized on how important it is to search for knowledge because it is “indispensable” and that it gives opinion “weight and value.” His speech concluded by encouraging political science students to be “stewards of truth and facts” and to “never lose their idealism” in speaking out for the truth.
Special activities such as song and dance numbers as well as raffles, stars of the night (both male and female) occurred in the first half of the event. A video was also released called the “TR Promotional Organization Score and Evaluation (OSE)” that showcased what the university has gone through such as COVID but also the activities it held despite the problem like NCAA and Sto. Nino.
Following this was the awarding ceremony, starting off with the Yugto Awarding for outstanding freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and ‘above and beyond’.
After the first part of the awarding, the TR Accomplishment Report was presented by Densie Adrianne Ginete, the President of TR. She showcased a number of programs that were conducted in her term such as The 4th Congres, Sakay Pasokay, Human Rights Day webinar and community engagement etc.
All of these programs, according to Ginete, were in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Benedictine Hallmarks. For her, through a strategic approach that is “inclusive, progressive and socially responsible” and cooperation, the programs were properly plotted out.
She also thanked the hard work of each of the committees that have contributed in making the programs successful as well as the mentors and professors. Because of this, she congratulated her team for getting an average OSE of 90.19% in the first semester.
Following Ginete, an alumnus of the political science department, Erika Chua, also shared her gratitude for the students that attended the event. She recalled how special the program is because of the opportunities it brings as well as having the skill to become open-minded on a lot of topics. Because of that, Chua concluded her speech by encouraging students “to grab every opportunity that comes their way, keep pushing forward in slow but sure progress.”
All of these were then followed by another round of awarding such as the “Magnus Awards” and the “Leadership Excellence Awards.” This also includes the “Socrates Award” given to CAS Dean Dr. Christian Bryan Bustamante, the “FPJ Youth Organization Leadership” award to Shelumiel Emuslan, and “Outstanding Rep Volunteer Award” to Kyrelle Diane Tolete.
To close the event, Erika Nicole Alcantara, the activity chair of the program and Internal Vice President (IVP) of TR, thanked everyone for the time and energy in taking part in the celebration. She also congratulated all the awardees, reminding them to be inspirations to service inside and outside of the University.
Photo courtesy of San Beda Red Lens
