The Thomasian Welcome Walk | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Frequency | Annual |
Venue | University of Santo Tomas |
Location(s) | Manila |
Country | Philippines |
Inaugurated | 14 June 2002 |
Most recent | 2023 |
Attendance | 7,000-10,000 |
The Thomasian Welcome Walk (TWW) is an annual event of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. [1] Freshmen walk through the Arch of the Centuries, a monument that served as the original doorway to the first campus of the university in Intramuros. [2]
The tradition of passing through the Arch of the Centuries as a welcome to the freshmen community began in 2002. It was first called as "The Rites of Passage". The activities in welcoming the new students were made to complement the Baccalaureate Mass and send-off rites to the graduates at end of the school year. [3] [4] [5]
The parade is followed by a mass that is usually concelebrated by the university rector.
It is a popular superstition that undergraduates should not pass through the arch the opposite way before the send-off rites because it could result in an untimely exit from the university. [6] [7]
The parade begins from assembly areas of the different college buildings then converges on Intramuros Drive. The students enter the España Boulevard side of the arch then continues to the Rizal Lane (Lover's Lane) toward the UST Main Building.
In the early years, the parade passed through the Benavides Plaza and ended in front of the Main Building where a mass and welcoming events were held. The venues changed later on to accommodate the increased freshmen population. In years not affected by the weather, programs are held at the UST Grandstand. The route turns left before it reaches the Benavides Plaza and goes straight to the UST Grandstand. During inclement weather, the route turns right before it reaches the Benavides Plaza and ends at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Date | Freshmen population | Venue of mass and programs | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
June 14, 2002 | In front of UST Main Building (now Plaza Mayor) | [3] | |
June 20, 2003 | ~5,000 | In front of UST Main Building (now Plaza Mayor) | [8] |
July 16, 2004 | [9] | ||
June 2005 | Not held. Replaced by Walking Tour and Freshmen Orientation Program | [10] [11] | |
July 21, 2006 | 7,302 | Plaza Benavides | [11] [12] |
July 17, 2007 | 12,000 | UST Grandstand | [13] |
June 29, 2008 | UST Grandstand and Plaza Mayor | ||
July 24, 2009 | 10,500 | UST Grandstand | [14] |
June 23, 2010 | UST Grandstand | [15] | |
August 5, 2011 | 10,000+ | [16] | |
September 24, 2012 | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 2 batches) | [1] | |
June 7, 2013 | 11,721 | UST Grandstand | [17] [6] |
July 11, 2014 | 13,049 | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 2 batches) | [18] [19] |
August 5, 2015 | 12,815 | UST Grandstand | [20] [21] |
August 5, 2016 | 7,915 | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
August 4, 2017 | 6,000+ (2,000+ first-year college students, 4,000+ Grade 11 senior high school students, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion | [22] [23] [24] [25] |
August 6, 2018 | 16,827 (12,866 first-year college, 3,433 grade 11 senior high school, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion | [26] [27] |
August 6-7, 2019 | 14,976 (9,909 first-year college, 1,053 graduate, 3,410 Grade 11 senior high school, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 3 batches) | [28] [29] |
August 29-30, 2020, September 5-6, 2020 | 12,000+ | Online streaming on UST Tiger TV Facebook page | [30] |
August 9, 2022, August 23, 2022 | 8,523 college and graduate school freshmen, 2,479 Grade 11 students. The latter date is for the second and third year students. | Quadricentennial Pavilion | [31] |
In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was replaced by a virtual tour of the campus with Minecraft. [30] The virtual tour had a dedicated Minecraft server that was constructed by over 80 UST students. [32]
The project won the “Project of the Year” award in the first-ever AcadArena Awards. [33]
In 2016, the university hosted the UAAP Season 79 opening ceremonies in the campus. Student-athletes from all sporting disciplines of all the member schools passed through the arch. The parade moved straight to Rizal Lane, past the statue of Miguel de Benavides, and through to the Plaza Mayor. This was promptly followed by a 10-minute fireworks display from atop the Main Building. [34] [35] [36]
In 2009, the Walk was postponed for more than a month because of the cases of Influenza A(H1N1) virus in the campus. [14] In 2012, like the previous years, the Walk was postponed several times because of bad weather. Originally scheduled on June 28, it was held on September 24 at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion. The Walk, for the first time, was divided into two batches as the venue could not accommodate all freshmen students. The first batch was held in the morning and it was participated by students from the Arts and Letters, Engineering, Commerce and Business Administration, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Science, Music, and Education High School. The Walk for the second batch took place immediately after. [37]
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University (DLSU), Far Eastern University (FEU), National University (NU), University of the East (UE), University of the Philippines Diliman (UP), and the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Varsity teams from these universities compete annually in the league's 32 events from 18 disciplines to vie for the overall championship title, namely, 3x3 basketball, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, billiards, boxing, chess, fencing, football, judo, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo poomsae, taekwondo kyorugi (sparring), tennis, and volleyball.
The University of Santo Tomas (UST), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila, is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel de Benavides, third Archbishop of Manila, it has the oldest extant university charter in Asia and is one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment found on one campus. It is the main campus of the University of Santo Tomas System that is run by the Order of Preachers.
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Overall Championship is awarded to the school with the highest point total in the different UAAP events. It was first awarded in UAAP Season 10. Member universities currently compete in fifteen sports to vie for the overall championship, namely, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, chess, fencing, football, judo, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
The UST Growling Tigers are the college athletic teams representing the University of Santo Tomas in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. They hold the most UAAP Overall Championships with 45 Seniors' Overall Championships and 21 Juniors' Overall Championships.
The Varsitarian is the official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Founded in January 1928 by a group of students led by Jose Villa Panganiban, it is one of the first student newspapers in the Philippines. It is published fortnightly. The lampoon issue is called The Vuisitarian. Tomas U. Santos, the mascot of The Varsitarian, is a Thomasian who represents the students of the campus. He is usually seen accompanied by a talking, and quite cynical, T-square.
The Arch of the Centuries is a triumphal arch at the Plaza Intramuros of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, in the Philippines that stands meters away from the university's Millennium Gate along España Boulevard. Half of the current structure, the side facing the UST Main Building is the ruins of the original Intramuros arch while the side that faces España Boulevard is a replica. The arch was formerly the original entrance to the university when the campus was still in Intramuros during the years from 1680 to 1941. It was declared by the National Museum as a National Cultural Treasure on 25 January 2010.
The University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines marks a variety of traditions largely influenced by the Spanish and Filipino Dominican culture. Many are annual events, such as religious assemblies marking the start and end of the academic year, a welcome walk for new students, as well as intercollege sport competitions and talent exhibitions. Christmas is celebrated in a month-long festivities culminated by the UST Paskuhan. Many Roman Catholic feast days are also celebrated.
The University of Santo Tomas is one of the oldest existing universities and holds the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia. It was founded on April 28, 1611, by the third Archbishop of Manila, Miguel de Benavides, together with Frs. Domingo de Nieva and Bernardo de Santa Catalina. It was originally conceived as a school to prepare young men for the priesthood. Located Intramuros, it was first called Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario and later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomás in memory of Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas. In 1624, the Colegio was authorized to confer academic degrees in theology, philosophy and arts. On November 20, 1645, after representations by Vittorio Riccio, Pope Innocent X elevated the college to the rank of a university and in 1680 it was placed under royal patronage.
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Celebration took place from December 18, 2009 to January 27, 2012. The agenda before the quadricentennial year in 2011 included the introduction of new academic programs, improvements in the university's infrastructure, and other projects to raise UST's national and international prominence and promote its role as a social catalyst.
The Quadricentennial Pavilion is a 5,792-seat multi-purpose gymnasium of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) located at the site of the former old Engineering Complex and adjacent football field in front of the Roque Ruaño Building.
The UST Growling Tigers basketball is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Santo Tomas. The school has won 19 basketball titles including one in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). They are one of the winningest teams in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) with 18 championships, the last coming in 2006 during Pido Jarencio's rookie year of coaching. Jarencio returned as the team's head coach after ten years since resigning in 2013. He formally replaced Bal David on February 3, 2023.
This is a timeline of the history of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, comprising important events of the history of the university and of the development of Philippine higher education in general. To read about the background to these events, see History of the University of Santo Tomas. See also the history of the Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas, and the Santo Tomas Internment Camp
The UST Neo-Centennial Celebration is a week-long anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines that commemorated the closing of the UST Quadricentennial Celebration.
The Paskuhan is the culmination of the university wide Christmas activities of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. The annual tradition started in 1991. The programs of Paskuhan were held during the last week or last day before the Christmas break of the university. In 2014, however, because of the change in the academic calendar of the university, it was scheduled in the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2014. It was later rescheduled to December 11, 2014, because of Typhoon Ruby.
The 2010 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 73rd season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2010-11 began on July 10, 2010 and the host school for the season was De La Salle University.
The UP–UST rivalry is a team rivalry between the athletic teams of the University of the Philippines (UP) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
The Benavides Monument is a memorial in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines built to commemorate the founder of the University of Santo Tomas, Miguel de Benavides, O.P. Located in front of the UST Main Building, the monument consists of a bronze statue of Benavides rising on top of a granite pedestal. The present monument was unveiled in 1946.
The University of Santo Tomas is a private Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1611 by the Order of Preachers, it is the oldest university in the Philippines and Asia. The university gives numerous awards, honors, prizes, and recognitions to its people and the general public who have substantial accomplishments or have exemplified the ideals of UST.