BU
Grand Alumni Homecoming and Outstanding Alumni Awards held:
composer of BU hymn given special
honor
September
19, 2009 – A motorcade from the
Bicol
University
grounds to the Albay Astrodome heralded the Grand Alumni Homecoming and First
Outstanding Alumni Awards of Bicol University in its forty years of existence. Graduates
from all its levels—grade school, high school, college, and graduate—graced
the event.
The
celebration started with the offering of the Holy Mass, officiated by Rev. Fr.
Jonathan Bailon, himself an alumnus of the university.
This was followed by the Opening Program where the history of
Bicol
University
was presented on screen, a short inspirational message was given by BU
President Fay M. Lauaya, and the alumni association’s project, Balai
kan
Alumni was presented by the officers, led by Dr. Faith M. Bachiller,
outgoing president of Bicol University General Alumni Association, inc. (BUGAAI).
The treasurer then solicited pledges for the project’s realization.
The morning activities culminated in a luncheon agape.
The
afternoon was spent on business matters including the report from the outgoing
set of officers, then the nominations and elections of the new set of directors,
from which the incoming officers would subsequently be elected.
A
few hours’ break found the alumni gathered once again for the first-ever
Outstanding Alumni Awards. Leading
the awardees was the composer of the
Bicol
University
hymn, Mr. Bobbie A. Garcia, who was given the 2009
Distinguished Alumnus Award. He
was joined by eleven other alumni awardees, men and women who have excelled in
specific fields of specialization: Dr.
Ofelia Samar-Sy, Outstanding Alumna for Medicine; Engr. Joseph B. Esplana,
Outstanding Alumnus for Public Administration; Prof. Erlinda P. Rillo
Outstanding Alumna for Science and Technology; Dr. Ruben M. Nayve Jr.,
Outstanding Alumnus for Economics; Prof. Victor S. Soliman, Outstanding Alumnus
for Fisheries; Prof. Nolan Belaro, Outstanding Alumnus for Entreprenuership; S.
Sup’t Rex Milton A. Dolino, Outstanding Alumnus for Police Work; Ms. Margie
Naz-Moraleda, Outstanding Alumna for Agriculture; Dr. Marites A. Khanser,
Outstanding Alumna for Literature; and Mr. Roberto G. Labayen, Outstanding
Alumnus for Media.
Each
of the outstanding alumni gave a short speech after having been presented their
award, and they all expressed profound happiness and gratitude for having been
recognized in their specific fields, thereby being given such honor.
They likewise articulated their desire to help
Bicol
University
achieve its dream of furthering the development of its educational services, as
a way of paying back the university for what it had given them.
President
Fay M. Lauraya, in her special message for the event, thanked all the alumni,
especially the awardees, citing
Bicol
University
as a product of their labor of love. She
expressed her intent to strengthen the ties between the university and its
alumni, giving honor to them through what she termed as the school’s version
of
Hollywood
’s “Walk of the Stars”. She
acknowledged that establishing a partnership with the alumni will likewise give
the university a much greater chance of achieving its vision of becoming “an excellent
university characterized by scholarship engagement for the community towards
sustainable development.”
Public
Information and Alumni Relations Officer Felipe Jose B. Peralta explicitly
stated in his closing message, that this affair is the first of its kind, and
therefore definitely not the last, so that the alumni may look forward to more
of it in the coming years. (Ma.
Celina G. Meneses/OP)
