Message of the University President
Atty. Angelo A. Jimenez is the 22nd University President. He was born and raised in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, and earned his BS in Sociology and Bachelor of Laws from UP Diliman. He is a former Chairperson of the UP Diliman University Student Council and served as UP Student Regent in 1992. He also served as a UP Regent from 2016-2021. He is the first UP president from Mindanao and the first student regent to be appointed as university president. His term is from February 2023 to January 2029.
University President Angelo A. Jimenez encouraged the Class of 2023 to create a bold new future for Filipinos and humankind using the university-acquired knowledge and skills in science, the humanities, and critical thinking. He offered this goal as a way for the graduates to create value for the Filipino people who subsidize UP. In addition, he asked the graduates to give this offering of a bold new future with kindness and compassion. All of which he conveyed through a written message below.
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Pahalipay, University of the Philippines Mindanao Class of 2023, on your graduation!
I share in your euphoria and your sense of triumph after weathering the challenges of academia, from passing all your classes, papers, and exams to navigating all the social complexities of being a UP student. Congratulations on your hard-earned achievement, and I hope you enjoy an equally hard-earned break from all your toils before taking on the world outside UP.
I also congratulate your families and loved ones for their unwavering support throughout your academic journey in UP. Congratulations as well to your professors, administrators, and staff in UP Mindanao, who worked hard to teach you and to create a nurturing learning environment for you. Your triumph today is their triumph, too.
In the years you have spent as a student of UP Mindanao, you have gained the scientific knowledge and artistic and humanistic skills you need to excel in any profession or field you choose; the ability to adapt to any circumstances, to be resilient and resourceful in the worst situations; to analyze problems and generate innovative solutions particularly for the needs and issues of the Southern Philippines, using insights from multiple disciplines; and to study our social realities, to think critically and independently, and to stand up fearlessly for what is right. You have learned what the UP principles of honor and excellence mean and how to apply these to every aspect of your life. These foundational lessons will see you through every challenge outside UP Mindanao’s halls and green, tree-filled campus.
However, I challenge you to go beyond "honor" and "excellence" and to confront one of the great moral paradoxes of UP today: The education you received at UP is free and subsidized. We in UP have been enabled to do what we do—to study, to learn, to do research—directly by the Filipino people. Every peso that goes toward educating you, and enables you to become successful professionals and leaders in your fields, is a peso taken from somebody else: from a needy patient in a UP PGH charity ward, from families living in tents after fleeing from wars and conflicts, from our indigenous communities living on the fringes of national society.
As you walk forward into your future, I call on you to take on the moral responsibility of an Iskolar ng Bayan and to give back to the nation and the region that nurtured you. Our people expect you to uphold UP's principles of honor and excellence in every word and action. More than that, though, you must commit yourselves to UP's third principle of compassion. Be kind, UP Mindanao Class of 2023. Be humble enough to learn from others, be patient enough to understand the diversity of our needs and realities, and be empathetic to the struggles of those who are not like you, especially the voiceless and marginalized. Above all, be kind. Serve our people with kindness and courage.
Padayon, UP Mindanao Class of 2023, creates a bold, new future for our nation and humanity.
And know that we, the UP community, will always have your back.
Mabuhay kayo!
ANGELO A. JIMENEZ
President
2F North Wing, Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
| 632-89280110 or 632-89283014
Photo by Misael Bacani, UP MPRO
