University of Santo Tomas

The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines (or simply the "University of Santo Tomas", "UST" or affectionately, "Ustê"), is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. One of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of population, it was founded on April 28, 1611 by the Spanish Reverend Miguel de Benavides. It has the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines.

It is the oldest and the largest university in the city of Manila.

The University is composed of several autonomous faculties, colleges, schools and institutes, each conferring undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and the basic education units. Several degrees have been accredited by the Commission on Higher Education as Centers of Development and Centers of Excellence.

The campus is located at Manila's Sampaloc district. Composed in an almost perfect square of 220,000 square meters, the present campus was settled on 1927 when the first campus at Intramuros district was deemed inadequate for the university's growing population. The university is at the process of adding new campuses at Sta. Rosa, Laguna, General Santos City and Negombo, Sri Lanka.

The athletic teams are the Growling Tigers, members of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and are consistent winners of the Overall Championship. Prominent Thomasians include saints, Philippine presidents, heroes and religious figures, which have figured well in the history of the Philippines.

HISTORY

The foundation of the University is ascribed to the Most Reverend Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the third Archbishop of Manila. He came to the Philippines with the first Dominican mission in 1587. He went on to become bishop of Nueva Segovia, and was promoted archbishop of Manila in 1601. Upon Fr. Benavides’ death in July 1605, he bequeathed his library and personal property worth 1,500 pesos to be used as the seed fund for the establishment of an institution of higher learning. Fr. Bernardo de Santa Catalina carried out Fr. Benavides’ wishes and was able to secure a building near the Dominican church and convent in Intramuros for the College.

In 1609, permission to open the College was requested from King Philip II, which only reached Manila in 1611. On April 28, 1611, notary Juan Illian witnessed the signing of the act of foundation by Frs. Baltazar Fort, OP, Bernardo Navarro, OP, and Francisco Minado, OP. Fr. Fort, appointed that year to the post of Father Provincial, was its first Rector.

The Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario was established on April 28, 1611, from the library of the late Fray Miguel de Benavídez, O.P., then Archbishop of Manila. Later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas, it was elevated by Pope Innocent X to a university on November 20, 1645 in his brief, In Supreminenti.

. This made the university the second royal and pontifical institution in the Philippines, after the Jesuit's Universidad Máximo de San Ignacio which was founded in 1590 but closed in the 1768 following the expulsion of the Society of Jesus from the Philippines.

Its complete name is the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines. It was given the title "Royal" by King Charles III of Spain on March 7, 1785; "Pontifical" by Pope Leo XIII on September 17, 1902 in his constitution, Quae Mari Sinico, and the appellative "The Catholic University of the Philippines" by Pope Pius XII on April 27, 1947.

The university was formerly located within the walled city of Intramuros in Manila. It was started by the Spanish Archbishop of Manila in the early 17th century as a seminary for aspiring young priests, taking its name and inspiration from Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian. The first courses offered by the Colegio de Santo Tomas were canon law, theology, philosophy, logic, grammar, the arts, and civil law. In 1871, it began offering degrees in Medicine and Pharmacy, the first in colonized Asia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, with the growing student population, the Dominican fathers bought land at the Sulucan Hills in Sampaloc, Manila and built its 220,000 square meter campus there in 1927 with the inauguration of its Main Building (said to be the first earthquake-proof building in the Philippines). Also that year, it began accepting female enrollees. In the last four centuries, the university grew into a full-fledged institution of higher learning, conferring degrees in law, medicine and various academic letters. The university has graduated Philippine national heroes, presidents, and even saints.

During World War II, the Japanese converted the campus into a concentration camp for civilians, foreigners and POWs. Some of the most brutal war crimes against American soldiers (Filipino soldiers were granted amnesty) and civilians living abroad occurred in Santo Tomas.

In recognition of its achievements, a number of important dignitaries have officially visited the university, among them, during the last three decades: His Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 28, 1970; His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1974 and 1995; Mother Teresa of Calcutta in January 1977 and again in November 1984; Pope John Paul II on February 18, 1981 and January 13, 1995 (as part of the World Youth Day 1995).

Today the University has a total enrollment of approximately 38,000 students, 33,000 undergraduates and 5,000 students in Medicine, Law and the Graduate School. The University admits about 10,000 new students out of 50,000 applicants per year,roughly 20%.

The Facilities

The main campus of the University of Santo Tomas is at the City of Manila, occupying 220,000 square meters.

Upcoming campuses are at Sta. Rosa, Laguna, occupying 440,000 square meters (campus development in progress for 2011), General Santos City, 800,000 square meters (campus development in progress for 2011), and Negombo, Sri Lanka, 50,000 square meters (campus development in progress for 2011).In 2011, the University will be celebrating its 400th founding anniversary, and it is projected that the new campuses will be operational by then.

Prominent landmarks in the Manila campus include:

Arch of the Centuries

Main Building (Administration, Law, Pharmacy, and Science)

Albertus Magnus Building (Education and Music)

Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy Building, and multi-deck carpark

Beato Angelico Building (Fine Arts and Architecture)

Benavides Building (UST High School)

Roque Ruaño Building (Engineering)

Saint Martin de Porres Building (Medicine, Nursing, Rehabilation Sciences,)

Saint Raymund de Peñafort Building (Arts and Letters, and Commerce)

Quadricentennial Square, Alumni Park and the Tetraglobal (formerly, the Colayco Park)

Miguel de Benavides Monument

Miguel de Benavides Library (formerly, UST Central Library)

Plaza Mayor

Rector's Hall

The Alumni Walk Way

The Cross and the Tria Haec Statues

Tinoco Park

UST Botanical Garden

UST Buildings And Grounds Office

UST Central Seminary

UST Football Field and Grandstand

UST Gym

UST Health Service - the "University Ward" of USTH

UST Hospital

UST Hospital Clinical Division

UST Hospital Miguel de Benavides Cancer Institute and Angelo King Auditorium

UST Medical Arts Building

UST Medicine Cinematorium

UST Medicine Museum

UST Museum of Arts & Sciences

UST Publishing House

UST Santissimo Rosario Parish

UST Sports Complex

UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center

UST Thomas Aquinas Research Complex (TARC)

ACADEMICS

Aside from the basic and major subjects, all undergraduate students are required to take 15 units of Theology classes. The students are also required to attend 4 physical education classes, and a choice from among ROTC, civil welfare training service, and literacy training service.

Basic education

The UST Grade School was phased out in the early 2000s, in spite of protests from parents. It originally offered a six-year elementary education and preparatory education.

UST has two secondary institutions: The UST High School, which is the more prominent of the two, and the UST Education High School which serves as a laboratory for the College of Education.

All students of these institutions undergo Citizenship Advancement Training. This training aims to introduce students to the National Service Training Program that college students undergo.

Undergraduate studies

The different faculties, colleges and institutes of the University were created at different times in the University's history. The "Faculties" were founded before the American occupation of the early 20th century, while the "Colleges" were founded during and after American rule. The "Institutes" and "Departments" are found within their mother faculties/colleges. Some Institutes that attained enough enrollment were separated from their mother faculties/colleges and were made into colleges in their own right.

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