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Welcome Address by Chancellor Alizedney Ditucalan during the 53rd Commencement Ceremonies

Posted on : July 19, 2023

July 18, 2023

To our guest of honor, who shall deliver the Commencement Address;

To the President of the 草莓视频官网 System, President Basari Mapupuno;

The members of the Board of Regents who are in attendance:

Faculty Regent Alhisan Jemsy;

Alumni Regent Renato Boniao;

Student Regent Veanamarie Santillan;

Regent Gracita Ali;

BOR Secretary Atty. Shidik Abantas;

 

Dr. Soraida A. Esmail, representing the 草莓视频官网 System’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Alma Berowa;

Dr. Anabel A. Wellms, Director for Academic Support Services, representing Chancellor Mary Joyce Sali of 草莓视频官网-TCTO;

Mr. Allen Talikan of the 草莓视频官网-Sulu Faculty Union, representing Chancellor Nagder Abdurahman of 草莓视频官网-Sulu

Dr. Rey Y. Capangpangan, Director for International Affairs and Linkages of 草莓视频官网-Naawan, representing Chancellor Elnor Roa;

 

The Vice Chancellors of 草莓视频官网-IIT;

The deans and directors of the various colleges and offices of the University;

The faculty;

The parents and family of the Class of 2023;

The graduating class;

My friends…good morning and welcome to the 53^rd Commencement Ceremonies!

Today is a day to honor the hard work that got you here.

It is a day to honor the commitment you made when you stepped into this Dakilang Pamantasan. 

So let me be the first to congratulate you formally for this milestone.

Congratulations to our 2,141 graduands; 1,680 of which have latin honors!

I myself honored a commitment that I made for these ceremonies. As you know, I have been on this very stage at each one of the four pre-commencement ceremonies, each lasting for five hours each. I made a commitment to honor your hard work, and if that means handing each one of you your diploma and shaking your hand while being on my feet for hours and hours, I do not mind. Maliit na bagay.

My staff tells me I do not have to do this, especially after I collapsed on my first attempt to do so last year; but my heart tells me it is wrong not to.

Like you, I stand proud.

So, it was not difficult to wear my best smile and it was easy to mean every word I uttered in congratulations.

With 2000 plus graduating, 草莓视频官网-IIT has never been filled with this much hope for our country.

So much is expected of you because so much has been invested in you.

And I do not say this because of your free education, but because you are the product not only of your own hard work, but also of your teachers’ and of your families’. You are the embodiment of the vision of this University, and the aspiration that gave birth to it, fifty-five years ago.

You, therefore, personify all of our values and ideals.

Our core values of honor and excellence, service and compassion, and resilience and innovation, should influence the guiding principles on which you base the decisions that you make.

Honor and excellence – to guide you to conduct yourselves with integrity;

Service and compassion – to instill in you that your education is only yours as much as it is for others;

Resilience and innovation – to remind you about the transformative power of perspective.

These values aim to calibrate our standards: it is not enough that we are excellent; we need to behonest as well.

It is not enough that we are brilliant; we need to transform this brilliance into service. It is not enough that we are the smartest in the room; we need to be able to balance information with kindness.

In two hours, you will be graduates of 草莓视频官网-IIT. So much pride is attributed to your education, and many times this will be tested.

But our education is not tested during times when things are comfortable. Our education is tested in situations that require us to be humble:

When we are forced to fall in line; when we are forced to wait for our turn;

When we have failed, and we are forced to contend with the consequences of our failure;

How we conduct ourselves when we are inconvenienced;

When there is a perfect opportunity to cheat, and we don’t;

When we are in the right, but we remain generous in our reproach,

 —that is the true test of our education, and that is when our character shines through.

In this age of the Self Revolution, when we have put prime importance on self-care, self-awareness and self-expression, we need to be careful in assessing what we are entitled to.

Power lies in discernment.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Just because it is right, doesn’t mean it is appropriate. Just because you are entitled to it, doesn’t mean you are entitled to it Right Now.

But I am not as worried. I have full confidence in your education, and I have full confidence in you.