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UPD CAL’s Batch 2015 Alumni Pioneer a Needs-Based Scholarship Program for Undergraduate CAL Students

By: Jaspher Kylle Visico

(From left): Isles (CALSC councilor), Dela Cruz (CALSC Councilor), CAL Assoc. Dean Peregrino, CAL Dean Naval, scholarship recipients, Macaspac, DAS Chair Prof. Guillermo, Hortel (CALSC councilor, now CALSC Chair). Photo from Nemo Macaspac, Batch 15 alumni representative.
(From left): Isles (CALSC councilor), Dela Cruz (CALSC Councilor), CAL Assoc. Dean Peregrino, CAL Dean Naval, scholarship recipients, Macaspac, DAS Chair Prof. Guillermo, Hortel (CALSC councilor, now CALSC Chair). Photo from Nemo Macaspac, Batch 15 alumni representative.

UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters (CAL) batch 2015 pioneered an alumni-led needs-based scholarship program, extending the chain of kindness and generosity to financially challenged CAL undergraduate students. This initiative provides students with stipends through donation drives targeting alumni.

 

Spearheaded by Jeronimo ‘Nemo’ Ascue, BA (Speech Communication) alumnus and former CAL student council (SC) chairperson, the program was conceived in February 2024. He organized it with Kaylene Fernandez, fellow speech communication graduate, and other then-incumbent SC officers.

 

Ascue stated that his experience as a UP College of Law scholarship recipient and the limited opportunities for arts and humanities students motivated the initiative. He said, “Mostly it’s sciences and engineering, so we wanted to try to start that awareness doon sa alumni, kasi meron at meron talagang magbibigay. It’s a matter of harnessing and institutionalizing these support initiatives for our students.”

 

During its launch in the second semester of AY 2023-2024, the program supported two full scholars and one partial scholar, with monthly stipends of PHP3,500 and PHP2,000, respectively.

 

Prospective applicants must submit their student profile, a narrative justifying their eligibility, and other pertinent documents (e.g., parents’ ITR and payment slip). They are then ranked based on established criteria, and support is allocated based on the available funds.

 

As of March. 2025, the program has raised PHP202,500, enabling support for eight students (five full scholars and three partial scholars) in the first semester and seven students (two full scholars and five partial scholars) in the second semester of AY 2024-2025.

 

“I really hope that with the support that we’ve garnered, considering around 30 plus donors, that’s a very small number and we were able to support this number of scholars. Sana ma-enganyo ‘yung CAL admin and university to really tap into CAL alumni and expand the reach of this initiative,” he shared as he ended the interview.

Carillon is published by the University of the Philippines Office of Alumni Relations