Unsatisfied Audience

Unsatisfied Audience

Flowers were offered to the Statue of Mme. Laureana San Pedro Rosales

      in the Friendship Park (Photo credit: Sheilla Mananggit)

Capitol University, a nonsectarian, coeducational private university located in Cagayan de Oro City, has celebrated its 47^th year of founding last February 14, 2018. The founding anniversary of Capitol University was started with a solemn Thanksgiving Mass that was attended by all students and staffs of the said university. Followed by the Wreathe Laying Ceremony, Unveiling of Wood Portrait of CU’s Founders, Blessing of the Faculty Resource Center and Pagpasidungog. All activities for the celebration resulted negative feedbacks especially students from different levels and colleges. And one thing was for sure, they were all unsatisfied.

The founding anniversary started at 7:30 am wherein hundreds of students and staffs were gathered all together inside the gymnatorium to attend the Thanksgiving Mass. During the mass, it was observed that most students who participated in the first activity of the celebration were all from Senior High School Department. Even in the Wreathe Laying Ceremony, wherein flowers and messages were offered to the Statue of Mme. Laureana San Pedro Rosales, college students were barely seen as the part of the audience. After the Wreathe Laying Ceremony, most of the classes in Senior High school Department were resumed while some activities were going on.

Of course, rants and disappointments were expressed by most of the students. Each student felt deprived about their rights to have fun and to feel free from all the stressed in their lives. During an interview with Mr. Mark Raymond S. Tan, chairman of the Department of Student Affairs and Services, he said that, “This year’s celebration should be festive, but since there were a lot of suspension of classes due to some disruption of typhoon and holidays, the admins (specifically the university President), decided to have a minimal activities to avoid academic days being fractured.” He also added,”Para man pod ni sa tanan. We cut off all the leisurely activities and lessen the days of the celebration since the university couldn’t afford to sacrifice the academic days that are intended to the development of the students.”

The institutional Mission is said to develop the youth into “Total Persons” that are mature and responsible individuals that will serve as a catalyst for social transformation and its Vision  to enhanced quality of life of the Filipinos through a globally recognized learning environment. But does it mean students will be deprived to unwind from the stress of their school works same with the staffs? Will it make difference to the students? Will it change something to the image of the university? How? By making students deprived of their rights and opportunities outside the academic world? Well, I don’t think so.

Capitol University’s founding anniversary was still a success and was given honor by most of the staffs in the university. The celebration was ended through celebrating “Pagpasidungog”, wherein numbers of staffs were awarded of their loyalty and hardships in the university. Awards were also given to those staffs who dedicated their lives by working for at least ten years in the university. But the damage has been done, as they say. All is well but still, there were “unsatisfied audience”.