The Command post: The Far Eastern University

Far Eastern University (FEU) (PSE: FEU) in the City of Manila, West Sampaloc, University Belt area is a nonsectarian, private university in the Philippines.

It was founded as a domestic educational institution in 1928 and incorporated in 1933, being the 6th oldest university in the Philippines and the 4th oldest private, non-sectarian university in the country based on its extant university charter.

FEU is a founding member of the two major collegiate athletic organizations in the Philippines, namely the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA-Philippines) and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

FEU was once dubbed as the “Largest University in Asia,”[citation needed] with an almost 50,000-student population in the early 1950s.

The university is the the pioneer of accountancy education in the Philippines.[citation needed] It has programs in architecture, fine arts, the arts and sciences, commerce, education, engineering and technology, graduate research, law, nursing, and medicine.

Among its alumni are former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban of the Institute of Law, business tycoon Henry Sy of the Institute of Accounts Business and Finance, renowned athlete Lydia de Vega-Mercado of the Institute of Education, among others.

One of the major additions to FEU's facilities is the newly inaugurated Technology Building II, a modern nine-storey building that houses FEU East Asia College and IARFA. Recently, the university received a UNESCO Heritage award for having the largest ensemble of preserved art deco buildings in the country.

FEU is the first university in the Philippines to have campus wide WiFi coverage for its community.

HISTORY

The Far Eastern University traces its roots to the Institute of Accountancy, founded in 1928 by a group of educators led by Dr. Nicanor Reyes Sr., then head of the Department of Economics at the University of the Philippines.

With Dr. Reyes were Dr. Francisco Dalupan (who later founded the Philippine College of Commerce and Business Administration in 1946, now known as the University of the East), Professor Antonio Aquino, Emmanuel Deymek and Clemente Uson, all professors at the UP Department of Economics.

The Institute of Accountancy initially offered a three-year non-degree program designed to meet the minimum requirements for the certified public accountant (CPA) board examination.

The Institute then branched out to other fields of study, business administration, economics, banking, and finance. One year after its founding, the school became the Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance (IABF).

Earlier, in 1919, the Far Eastern College, which offered courses in the liberal arts, was founded in Quiapo originally by Don Vicente Fabella (he later made a revival of Far Eastern College and named it as Jose Rizal College).

In 1933, the IABF and the Far Eastern College merged and officially became the Far Eastern University.

Under FEU, the Far Eastern College became the Institute of Arts and Sciences, while the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance retained its name. The Institute of Law was established in 1934, and two years later, the Institute of Technology was established.

From the initial 117 students, population grew to 11,000 just before the war. Then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon hailed and called FEU "the best non-sectarian institution in the country."

cigarette factory on the corner of Azcarraga (now Claro M. Recto Avenue) and M. Lorenzo (now Quezon Boulevard) streets in downtown Manila was the first building of the University. The factory stood on a four-hectare lot which FEU bought and developed into a campus known for its Art Deco design.

The Japanese Imperial Army Kempetai seized and occupied the FEU compound during the Pacific War.

Japanese forces burned and destroyed the University's records, books, and facilities, sparing only the buildings, which they used as a concentration camp.

Many executions of top Filipino leaders in resistance to Japanese occupation, like that of Josefa Llanes Escoda and her colleagues were conducted on campus. The Japanese are also said to have killed Dr. Nicanor Reyes and some members of his family.

FEU reopened during the second semester of 1945.

After embarking on an expansion program of physical plant and facilities to accommodate its growing student population and to cope with the demands of the times, FEU focused on improved instruction and training qualified students by establishing the Institute of Graduate Studies in 1958. Various curricula were also reviewed leading to new academic programs. It became a listed corporation (PSE: FEU) in the Philippine Stock Exchange on July 11, 1986.

The present acting President is Dr. Lydia B. Echauz who replaced Dr. Edilberto De Jesus after he was appointed Secretary of the Department of Education by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the second time that an FEU executive was appointed Education Secretary.

Under the leadership of the Chairman Emeritus Dr. Lourdes Reyes-Montinola, a foundation was created to shoulder expenses for the studies of faculty members here and abroad.

International linkages and exchange programs were forged to further educational programs.

On January 28, 2008, FEU unveiled its first nursing virtual lab.

The University Seal

The FEU coat-of-arms was conceptualized in 1933 as the official seal of the university and is still being used at present with minor alterations in its shape (oval) and founding year (1928).

The standard consists of an eight-pointed golden star representing the first eight main academic disciplines offered by the University.

The heraldic supporter is a Sarimanok motif, in full color, projecting the nationalistic spirit upon which the University was founded. It also serves as the link between the past and the present.

The FEU alphabet fonts are patterned after the pre-colonial Philippine script or “baybayin.” The same font was used by the nationalist pre-war periodicals El Renacimiento and Renacimiento Filipino.

The Tamaraw is the mascot of every FEU athletic team, hence, is the pet name of every FEU student (Tams).

Known scientifically as “Bubalus mindorensis”, it is a rare animal found only in the island of Mindoro.

The Tamaraw is one of the most intelligent, pugnacious, and aggressive of Philippine animal species.

The University colors are green and gold. Gold represents the golden opportunity for the University to serve the youth and for her alumni to serve the country. Green is for hope, representing the founder’s "fair hope of the fatherland."

Presidents

-Nicanor I. Reyes Sr. (1934-1942) *
-Hermenigildo B. Reyes (1945-1946)
-Clemente Q. Uson (1946-1949)
-Vidal A. Tan (1949-1952)
-Teodoro T. Evangelista (1952-1970)
-Nicanor M. Reyes Jr. (1970-1985)
-Josephine Cojuangco-Reyes (1985-1989)
-Felixberto C. Sta. Maria (1989-1995)
-Edilberto C. de Jesus (1995-2002)
-Lydia B. Echauz (2002-present)

-Nicanor reyes had been executed during the japanese occupation.

The Campus

The FEU campus in downtown Manila is largest cluster of Art Deco structures in the Philippines designed by National Artist for Architecture Pablo Antonio and contains rare art collections from renowned Filipino artists like Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Fernando Amorsolo, Antonio Dumlao, Simon Saulog, Solomon Saprid and Italian sculptor Francesco Monti.

In September 2005, out of ten institutional entries from eleven countries in the Asia-Pacific region, FEU won the Honorable Citation Award from the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation.