Imagine UST”

The Road to 400 Years of History

By Primo Andres

Imagine that you are going home to our native land, the beautiful Philippines, that you

have not visited for years.  Imagine yourself visiting our alma mater and passing through

the Arch of the Centuries and walking down the long path to the Main building as you

stare at the statue of Fr. Benavides as it looms ahead.  Excited over the nostalgia that such

a visit is bound to arouse, you want to make sure your trip is perfect.  But how do you go

about doing it?  You have listened to, and maybe even met with, dignitaries from the

Philippines during our Grand Reunions and National Conventions and might have even

mentioned your intention to visit UST to them, but will you have somebody to take care

of you when you finally make your trip?

Now, imagine you looking at the website of USTMAAA, www.ustmaaa.com, and

searching for a link to UST.  With one click, imagine opening a page asking you when

you are visiting, how much time you plan on spending in the campus, how many of you

in your party, and what special interests you may want to accomplish during your visit. 

Imagine actually arriving in the UST campus and going to a set place.  Imagine a

welcoming party putting a lei around your neck and offering you refreshments and giving

you a packet of information that includes a badge that allows you to enter limited access

facilities, a parking permit that allows you to use a safe and free parking space, and a

schedule of activities for the day including a guided tour with one of the student leaders. 

Can this be possible?

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In the recently concluded 16 Annual

Grand Reunion and National

Convention of the USTMAAA in Las

Vegas, the Rector Magnificus, the

Very Rev. Fr. Rolando de la Rosa,

introduced the plan to construct the

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

THOMASIAN ALUMNI CENTER. 

This will be a free standing building

behind the Main building and close to

the Dapitan entrance and adjacent to

the Student Center, and it will house

the Secretariat of  all the Alumni Organizations of the different Colleges, including the

Rector Magnificus, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa,

Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.  This will make it even possible to network with our

appealing for support of Alumni Center

fellow Thomasians in other walks of life and business endeavors while minimizing cost

and optimizing efficiency.  It will be the legacy of all the alumni that will commemorate

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the 400 year Anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas that will be celebrated on

January 28, 2011.  It is a large undertaking and it is estimated to cost $ 3 million.

In his speech during the Gala “Filipiniana night” talking about the Thomasian Alumni

Center, Fr. de la Rosa was asking the USTMAAA, being the best organized of the

Thomasian alumni organizations, to spearhead this campaign and is hoping to raise a

third of the cost of the  project from the medical alumni.  He even mentioned that for a

price, he is ready to sing a song that night. 

Responding to the challenge, the Tau Mu

Sigma Phi Fraternity USA Foundation offered

the first pledge of $ 100,000, guaranteeing $

65,000  in one year to commemorate the oldest

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medical fraternity’s 65 Anniversary in

January 2011, coinciding with the

Tau Mu Fraternity USA Foundation

Quadricentennial Anniversity of the

offering the first check of $ 10,000.

University.  Tau Mu handed over the first $

10,000 check as a token of good faith and to

show its commitment to the project. 

For this the Fr. Rector gratefully sang

an Ilocano song to the tune of Joy to

the World.  The Magnificent Class of

1968, the most generous medical

alumni class,  soon followed with

their pledge of another $ 100,000 to

be completed on time for the

groundbreaking of the project.  And

The Magnificent  Class of 1968 pledging

this time Fr. de la Rosa sang a longer

the next $ 100,000.

English song serenading the Class to

the delight of all those present.

The Thomasian Alumni Center will be a priority project for the USTMAAA and all

efforts will be mustered to make this dream a reality.  Already, several classes and

individual alumni are planning on raising funds to help build this all-important structure

that will surely become the center of alumni activity in decades, if not centuries, to come. 

Won’t you be a part of it!

>The 2011 THOMASIAN ALUMNI CENTER PROJECT

    [  ] $1,000.00 one time payment

    [  ] $300.00 @ year for 3 years +$100.00 last payment

    [  ] $100.00 @ month for 10 months

    [  ] $27.80 @ month  36th month

_______________________________________________________________________________________

>Payment method

  Check Enclosed [ }

  Bill my credit card [ ] American Express [ } Visa  { } Mastercard { } Other _________

                            Card number ________________________________

                            Expiration date: _______________

>Name _________________________________________________

>Address _______________________________________________

>City, State, Zip _________________________________________

>Tel. __________________________________________________

>Signature: ____________________________________________ Date: ______________

>Please make check payable to USTMAAA FOUNDATION and mail this form together with check to:

>USTMAAA

>7071 ORCHARD LAKE SUITE 333

>WEST BLOOMGIELD, MICHIGAN 48322

>TEL 248-626-2UST