SD PortalXtra


October 2012 More looks at FD visit by SUAFers


Gaya with other OSA awardees at wreath-laying before the bust of found- er Horace Silliman


Four days


for forty years By Oswald Esperat


If one must experience a jaw-dropping contrast


between Silliman in the 1960s and today, do what I did. I spent four days on campus last August and was stunned by the stark difference – essentially in the physical sense because in terms of the univer- sity’s mission, values, and sense of community especially, they remain the same. The short stay coincided with a visit my wife


Tenette made for a nursing symposium (and indi- rectly to acknowledge her OSA recognition by her Alma Mater since she was unable to accept the award in person due to a prior commitment). But it was opportunity for me, albeit not ample enough and never will be, to revisit with people and famil- iar places not met nor seen since I was last on campus. That year was 1972. Forty years is such a long stretch, and while


Laarni traveled to Guihulngan to endorse earth- quake assistance to Fr. Raul Ingan.


more lucky alumni have had occasions to make regular campus visits since after graduation, I was faced with the anxious prospect of finally ―resetting‖ ingrained images held far too long but for second-hand descriptions by others of changes simply too difficult to grasp. The initial view from a PAL airbus this time was one of awe -- so much had changed from the air since the days of the Fokkers and YS-11s, and the next few days would only make that impression much visceral and even more glaring, whether during the campus walks I took or in the company of an old friend who drove me around. Trying to put perspective into this ―new‖ cam-


Chona and Gino Maribao visited the Aglipayan church in Tayasan. Their contribution helped repair the damaged altar.


pus required placing in my mind’s eye what hap- pened to buildings that no longer exist and appre- ciating those either altered, added to, or simply taken over by new constructions. During my Silli- man years, I can recall of only two new buildings erected – Villareal Hall and the Divinity School chapel of the Evangel. And classrooms were either in shared buildings or temporary rooms. These days colleges have their own structures, there are no more T-rooms, and the campus is littered with new edifices serving special purposes – the Luce Auditorium, the university hospital, the university library, a new ROTC parade ground, and Portal West raised over the location where I used to at- tend courses in history and (See FOUR next page)


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