Perspectives on Governance, Interrogation, and Inventory: Loyola Schools Celebrates its First Semester Faculty Day

It is a time for invention and reinvention," said Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ, former University President, in the mass he officiated on the morning of the first semester Faculty Day. Indeed, Faculty Day virtually assembled more than 500 Loyola Schools faculty members and administrators who used the special day to celebrate each other's inventions and reinventions as facilitators of education in the time of COVID-19.

Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, Vice-President for the Loyola Schools, opened the affair by discussing how the Loyola Schools migrated teaching, student services, and formation activities online in the past school year. Vilches announced the launch of the Creative Work Portal and the Professorial Chair Award Portal. She also congratulated the 23 newly minted doctors in the Loyola Schools and lauded the achievements of numerous faculty members. "In whichever posture we find ourselves, we are one community, journeying together dedicated to the mission, passionate for the truth and the good, forging hope, while mustering courage as we continue to care for one another and others in need in the greater society," she said.

Fr. Roberto C. Yap, SJ, University President, then delivered his remarks which focused on the connection between environmental degradation and poverty. Urging participants to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, he announced that before the year ends, the university is slated to be part of the first cohort of colleges and universities globally, that will make an institutional commitment to participate in Pope Francis' seven-year journey towards integral ecology: "Becoming a Laudato Si university is really a call for us to incorporate environmental sustainability into the mission of the university, the strategic plans of our organization, certainly into the curriculum, and into campus operations." 

Focusing on the Faculty Day's theme: Perspectives on Governance: Interrogation and Inventory", Fr. Albert "Paring Bert" Alejo, SJ (SOSS - Department of Sociology and Anthropology) recounted the story of Bishop Francisco "Ikoy" Claver, SJ, who spent much of his life building various stone structures that remain erect to date — a metaphor for the stones that speak aloud about his theologizing and long-standing fight against the many injustices of his time. Paring Bert advised the participants: "Our mission is to form leaders who are deeply rooted in our culture, as well as equipped to face the future."

Building on the Faculty Day theme, faculty members from each Loyola School took turns discussing their respective projects and stories on community engagement. Dr. Genejane Adarlo (SOSE - Department of Health Sciences) discussed the joint project of the Ateneo de Manila University's Health Sciences program and the Boston University's School of Public Health, which tackles the epidemiological profile and transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in the Philippines. Dr. Jowel Canuday (SOSS - Department of Sociology and Anthropology) and Joey Sescon (SOSS – Department of Economics) discussed the Mindanao Course Reader. Ms. Solvie Nubla-Lee (GBSEALD) talked about how the Pathways to Higher Education program has provided quality education and opportunities for hundreds of promising but financially underprivileged students. Mr. Zab Jimenez (JGSOM - QMIT) talked about high-impact initiatives Kalinga sa Kutsero't Kabayo and Project NEST (Nurturing Environment and System for Thriving). Mr. Guelan Luarca (SOH - Department of Fine Arts) also spoke about Tanghalang Ateneo's "online season" featuring Bahay Tanghalan, "Password: 03d1pu5_R3x", and Makbetamaximus: Theatre of Destruction. Luarca reflected on Tanghalang Ateneo's unprecedented season with the same learnings gleaned from all projects spotlighted on Faculty Day: "I'd like to think that theater, and all arts, for that matter has always been in the service of truth-telling, historical witnessing. We stand true to that, and we hold our ground."