THE UNIVERSITY must not lose sight of its mission even if it faces public scrutiny whenever the media report on its failures and setbacks, Filipino Dominican prior provincial Fr. Filemon de la Cruz, O.P. said.
In his homily during the mass for the installation of Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. as UST rector, de la Cruz said the rise of technology has allowed the media to constantly monitor the University.
“An institution like the University, for the values and ideals…that a university stands for… we will always have people watching us in our society…Any appearance of a failure, an oversight, a shortcoming, it will always hit the media. It will always be news. UST is always news,” he said on Monday, Sept. 9
“And you can just imagine how difficult it is for people who administer the University, not just for the rector, but for the different departments and sectors of the University. We have been through this and we did not elaborate.”
While one’s contributions may be overshadowed because of shortcomings, people should find comfort that there are also some who would try to “put down” the Lord despite the good things He has done, de la Cruz said.
“If you pay so much attention—I’m not saying we have to ignore on all the people watching you and what they are to say—it will cause you to detract from your mission and eventually, it will be a failure. A failure not because of what people said. It will be a failure because we have lost our sense of mission,” the Dominican priest said.
In its mission, UST dedicates itself to the generation, advancement, integration, dissemination, and application of knowledge “in pursuit of truth guided by reason and illumined by faith.”
“Yes, we have one rector but behind the rector is a community. A community of fathers, a community of academicians, professors. This is a collective leadership. This is a shared leadership,” dela Cruz said.
“We just need one to call us together to steer discussion, to preside over meetings, and to direct us, but we are not alone. We do it as one institution or rather as one faith community,” he added.
The mass was held at the Santisimo Rosario Parish church and was followed by the formal installation of Ang to his second four-year term as the 97th UST Rector. F – Ma. Alyanna Selda with reports from Veancy Palad
