West Negros University

          Negros Occidental (in English West Negros) has now three universities: UNO-R, La Salle, and West Negros. We must rejoice.

          The biggest historic moment of a community is its strides in improving education. The province and city must celebrate, not just the school.

          I cannot accept the alibi that we are poor because ours is a young country and the people not mature. If the people are not mature, blame education which failed us.

          If I recall right, the University of Santo Tomas was established in 1611. The Pilgrim Fathers from England aboard the Mayflower landed in Cape Cod only in 1620 and Harvard University was founded in 1636 or 25 years later in Cambridge, Massachusetts by a general court of the colony.

          It was around 1639 when Harvard was named after John Harvard who donated his library and half his estate to the school.

          Oxford was founded in 1168 and Cambridge in 1214, all of England. Sorbonne of Paris was founded also about this time.

          An old friend, educated in Spain once told me the oldest university is the University of Salamanca in Spain established in 1102. But he admitted Salamanca has not established a name as an educational institution.

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          What is a university? I recall a beautiful article on it years ago that said something like, a university is not just impressive buildings, scholarly teachers, and brilliant students. It is not just a school.

          A university is more. As the root word implies, it is of the “universe”. It is a fountain not just of knowledge but of wisdom. It must not just provide that wisdom. It must search for that wisdom for a better community, a better universe.

          The bottom line is research. A university, too, must have advocacy. It must aim for a purpose. It must be a leader in enhancing and improving knowledge.

          A university is for higher education. Let us not lose sight of the fact that elementary education is still more important.

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          And how do we improve knowledge but through research.

          Are our universities doing this? I leave you the answer.

          My knowledge is limited to La Salle. And I know, Dr. Carmen F. Benares is deeply involved in the welfare of the rice farmers of Bago, a part of her job in La Salle.

          Other local schools must be doing similar to that too, I want to believe.

          Many years ago, or sometime in the 80s, Dr. Violeta Lopez Gonzaga of La Salle made researches on the laborers of the sugar industry. If I remember right and Dr. Gonzaga can correct me, she became controversial when many planters perceived her to be not doing research but promoting her own anti-planter ideas.

          Researchers must strip themselves of bias or the research fails if many believe the conclusion is colored.

          Probably the planters were wrong and Dr. Gonzaga was right. But La Salle didn’t want to get caught in a controversy and scrapped the idea..

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          In the 60s when Grand Old Man Piding Montelibano learned I was teaching at La Salle he told me to tell the La Salle Brothers to undertake researches. Montelibano donated the 10-hectare lot to La Salle.

          I told him I was not in a position to tell the Brothers. He should, because he donated the lot. His answer, “If I tell them, they’ll tell me ‘Where’s the money?’” Yes, researches need money.

          In Oxford, Cambridge, Sorbonne, Harvard or other universities there are donors who want to research on cancer.

          If a college of medicine here undertakes a research on asthma, I will be happy to donate P10 and help in raising the amount among the many asthmatic friends I know. I am seeing my Dr. Luzviminda Ares today on my asthma.

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          I reiterate my being impressed by the strides of West Negros College under Suzette Agustin. I did not expect it to stand out among the schools run by religious groups who have no investors to worry and even enjoying some tax privileges.

          In the 70s, after my deanship of commerce at La Salle, my friend Alex Espino, who was then WNC president, approached me if I wanted to be dean of WNC college of commerce.

          I politely begged off reasoning that I wanted to slowly fade away from the academe. But, at the back of my mind was, the future of West Negros College competing against  the local colleges run by religious.

          Dr. Suzette Agustin proved me wrong. Some years ago, we were together in the plane from the U.S. We talked about West Negros College and I could sense her foresight, her drive, and managerial skill.

                   Good luck to West Negros University.*

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