Carillon is published by the
University of the Philippines
Office of Alumni Relations
BRINGING ALUMNI HOME:
Instituting CSSP’s Alumni Association
By Rhodalyn C. Wani, PhD
When acting head of the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (CASAA) Foundation Renan del Rosario discovered our plan to formally constitute a CSSP Alumni Association last year, he exclaimed, “Good luck!”
There was no hint of sarcasm in the statement and it really was a well-intentioned, well- humored greeting bestowed upon us as we began this journey of bringing our alumni “home.” Yet, it also served as a timely reminder that initiating, organizing, and sustaining an alumni association was no easy task and to do so would need dedication and perseverance.
Earlier in January 2023, former College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Dean Maria Bernadette Abrera had asked me to serve as the college’s External Affairs Officer. My primary task, she explained, was to organize an alumni homecoming for CSSP’s 40th year anniversary to be held in October, an event monumental in the history of the college as this was the year that the College of Arts of Sciences (CAS) split into the three colleges that we know today as College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), College of Arts and Letters (CAL), and College of Science (CS). This was an opportune time to look back and reflect on what CSSP had accomplished in the past four decades.
More than the homecoming, however, there was also an urgent need to finally constitute an alumni association for CSSP. In 2023, CASAA, which had served the alumni of CAS since 2000, was in the process of dissolving and its board was gradually dividing the foundation’s finances among the three colleges that came out from the split. It was hoped that with the formal constitution of an organization for CSSP, we would accomplish two goals: one, we would establish stronger ties with our alumni, and two, we would concretize channels that would make giving back to the college possible.
The very first step in our journey was speaking to acting CASAA head Del Rosario to gather practical information on establishing associations. When he had initially wished us luck, he was really drawing from his own experience. He shared that college-level alumni associations posed an immense challenge because our alumni often felt a deeper affinity to their home departments rather than the college. In some colleges in UP Diliman, he explained, the department-based alumni organizations were more active than the college-based ones.
At that point, I thought how interesting that such a simple observation really made more sense the more you dwelled on it. Much of our college experience revolved around the relationships we established within our departments. We have countless stories of intimidating professors and stressful deadlines, but our happiest moments are anchored on memories of laughing, playing, drinking, and chatting with friends. To successfully bring our alumni together, therefore, any communication about alumni matters, including our invitation to attend an alumni homecoming, had to come from the home departments. Any other plans thereafter for the CSSP Alumni Homecoming and the CSSP Alumni Association were really drawn from this bottom-up strategy.
As October came around, we were finalizing our preparations for the homecoming. By then, we had decided to showcase two things in the event. We had invited the first dean of CSSP, Dr. Leslie E. Bauzon, to serve as our guest of honor to speak of CSSP’s early days in 1983. Always gracious with his time, Dr. Bauzon was quick to accept the invitation, later revealing he spent many happy years with the college. Secondly, we also wanted to recognize several distinguished alumni who, after leaving CSSP, went on to excel in their respective fields. After a lengthy vetting process, we presented to the following individuals their awards for being CSSP Distinguished Alumni: Nicomedes Alviar (Political Science), Darlene Berberabe (Philosophy), Jasmin Callosa-Tarr (Geography), Michael Charleston Chua (History), Jeffrey Crisostomo (Sociology), Mary Dorothy Jose (History), Daniel Kaufman (Linguistics), Rowena Pangilinan-Daquipil (Political Science), Bernadette San Juan (Geography), Mikko Tamura (Geography), Maria Tanyag (Political Science), and Susan Villanueva (History).
The event itself turned out wonderfully with food and music overflowing. There was in attendance more than 150 alumni who were excited to reconnect with friends and professors. In his speech, former CSSP Dean Dr. Bauzon remarked that “With the UP CSSP shining in academe, the devoted constituents need not feel trapped in a dark world, groping, toying to find their way with flickering candles. Through the UP CSSP, the light has shone and continues to shine not only on this world, but in each of the hearts of the UP CSSP alumni, faculty, staff, and students.”
CSSP’s celebration of its 40th year was, in fact, a testament to its commitment to the belief that for the betterment of the Filipino people and nation, we serve as critics of society and agents of change. Succeeding messages shared by our distinguished alumni also followed this theme of service and giving back. While many shared happy memories of college life and a few even narrated overcoming hardships, there was an overwhelming message that what they had learned while at CSSP inspired and influenced their work outside the university.
Following the Alumni Homecoming, we called together alumni representatives from each of the CSSP Departments to talk of next steps. There is undeniably a near future filled with paperwork and bureaucratic procedures as we begin filing our registration with the SEC, but there is also a sense of optimism and excitement that often accompanies new endeavors. We look forward to formalizing the organization and working together with our alumni. After all, if there is one essential lesson that CSSP has imparted to us, it is to love. It is a quiet type of love that grows as we explore further our disciplines, our community, and our country.
It is an enduring type of love, too, that figures in our actions as we serve and attend to our people’s needs. And even if this love is sensitive to injury when frustrations and anger boil over our nation’s state of affairs, it is the kind of love that nevertheless sustains us, gives meaning to our work, and compels us to always act with kindness and gratitude.