University of San Carlos

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2009)

For the similarly named university in Guatemala, see Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.

University of San Carlos
Unibersidad ng San Carlos
Motto	Scientia Virtus Devotio
Motto in English	"Witness to the Word" "Knowledge Valor Piety"
Established	1595 (as Colegio de San Idelfonso) 1935 (reopened)
Type	Catholic, private
Chairman	Jesus N. Alcordo
President	Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD
Location	Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
Campus	University
Nickname	Carolinians, USC Warriors
Website	http://www.usc.edu.ph/

The University of San Carlos is an educational institution in Cebu City. It is the oldest school in the Philippines, established by Spanish Jesuits in 1595, and it is a Roman Catholic school of higher learning governed by the Society of the Divine Word since 1935. It offers pre-elementary and basic education as well as undergraduate and graduate courses, and a broad spectrum of academic programs through its eight colleges.

It consists of four campuses in different areas of metropolitan Cebu – the Main Campus along P. del Rosario St., the Talamban Campus (TC - Technological Center), the North Campus (formerly the Boys High) along Gen. Maxilom Ave., and the South Campus (formerly the Girls High) along corners J. Alcantara St., P. Del Rosario Ext. and V. Rama Avenue.

History

University of San Carlos main campus

The university traces its origins to the founding of the school Colegio de San Ildefonso. Colegio de San Ildefonso was founded by the Spanish Jesuits fathers Antonio Sedeno, Pedro Chirino and Antonio Pereira on August 1, 1595. It was closed in 1769 at the expulsion of the Jesuits. In 1783, the initiative of the Bishop Mateo Joaquin de Arevalo opened the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos. In 1852, the management of the college was entrusted to the Dominican fathers, replaced in 1867 by the Vincentian Fathers then, in 1935, the Societas Verbi Divini or the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). The Second World War led to the interruption of the courses in 1941 because several buildings suffered various amounts of destruction. The buildings reopened as repairs were made over the course of 1945 and 1946. The Colegio de San Carlos was granted its university charter in 1948. The University was named after St. Charles Borromeo.

University of San Carlos' claim to being the oldest university in Asia, however, is disputed. Historians point out that it cannot trace its origin to the Colegio de San Ildefonso because this school (a grammar school as described by Fr. Ernesto M. Lagura, SVD, president of the University of San Carlos during the Centennial Congress on Higher Education held on May 28-29, 1998) was shut down in 1769 with the expulsion of the Jesuits. In 1783, the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos opened under new owners. [4] The Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila has been in existence since 1611 and was interrupted only by World War II. It was elevated to university status in 1645.

The college-seminary of San Carlos became University of San Carlos in 1948. The university is chaired by the Father Dionisio Miranda. The board of directors (Board of Trustees) is chaired by Jesus N. Alcordo.

Information

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2009)

• USC has been granted with an autonomous status by Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) (CHED) in 2001.
• USC is recognized by CHED as Center of Excellence in Chemistry, the only one in the Visayas. CHED recognizes its Teacher Education as Center of Excellence as well.
• USC is a center of development in Business Education, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Marine Sciences.
• The USC College of Law has been consistently in the Top Ten Law Schools in the Philippines (based on the Supreme Court Statistical Data), placing 2nd to Ateneo de Manila University in the 2005 Bar Exams and 4th in the 2006 Bar exams (based on new candidates).
• The USC College of Engineering is the lone Philippine university member of the School on the Internet-Asia (SOI-Asia), a consortium of 15 universities situated in 11 countries across Asia. It can be noted that the Philippines was first connected to the Internet at the 1st International E- mail conference held at USC in March 1994.
• The USC College of Commerce has been selected for the 2007/2008 EDUNIVERSAL 1,000 business schools that count on Earth by an International Scientific Committee.
• The university's Accountancy program is regarded as one of the best in the country, consistently topping the CPA Licensure Examinations according to number of passers and producing board passers on the TOP TEN.

USC Vision - Mission Statement

University Vision Statement
The University of San Carlos sees

- A World where the darkness of sin and the night of
unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the
Spirit of grace

- A Society where citizens are competent, noble in
character and community oriented...

● What they know, they apply justly and honestly...
● What they do not know, they seek to learn...
● What they do not have, they endeavor to acquire...
● What they have, they share.

University Mission Statement

The University of San Carlos is a Catholic institution of
learning that embodies the principles of academic discipline of
San Carlos Borromeo and the missionary charism of the Society of
the Divine Word (SVD).

We aim to develop competent and socially responsible
professionals and life long learners in an environment that fosters
excellence in the academic core processes of teaching-learning,
research and community extension service.

Our Mission is to provide timely, relevant and transformative
academic programs responsive to the needs of the local, national
and global communities in a rapidly changing world.

USC Hymn

To USC we sing
Our song shall always ring
You, who set the mind astir
of our learning be
harbinger

Our Alma Mater dear
We pledge our love sincere
Firm do we stand and true
Glory to God, to man, and you

We promise faith and love
And laud the Lord above
To God we shout our song of praise
To Him our voice we raise
Your aim's to lead us to the Lord
Be now forever blessed!

School Publication

The University of San Carlos, being a diverse environment of holistic individuals caters to its students a variety of publications.

Notable Alumni

• Sergio Osmeña - Second President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
• Vicente Sotto - Former Senator of the Philippines, the "Father of Cebuano Literature" and grandfather of former Sen. Tito Sotto.
• Filemon Sotto - Former Senator of the Philippines and brother of Vicente Sotto. ^[1]
• Sergio Osmeña III - Also known as Serge Osmeña, former Senator of the Philippines.
• Emilio Mario Osmeña - Also known as Lito Osmeña, is the former Governor of Cebu (1988–1992), founder and chairman of PROMDI Party (Probinsya Muna Development Initiative or Provinces First Development Initiative).
• John Henry Osmeña - Also known as Sonny Osmeña. A former Senator of the Philippines.
• Sotero B. Cabahug - Former Secretary of National Defense and Public works and former associate justice. ^[2]
• Mariano Jesús Cuenco - Former Senator of the Philippines (1941–1964). Served as Senate President and Chairman of the Commission on Appointments from 1949 to 1951.
• Hilario Davide, Jr. - Former chief justice of the supreme court. Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, March 2003.
• Raul del Mar - Six term member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representing the First District of Cebu City.
• Aniano A. Desierto - Former Ombudsman of the Republic of the Philippines.
• Rene Espina - Former Senator of the Philippines. ^[3]
• Jesus Estanislao - Former secretary of the Department of Finance. He is the recipient of the 2002 International Corporate Governance Network Award (first and only Filipino to receive such award to date) and the Philippine Legion of Honor in 1992. He was the founding Dean (1998) of the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo. He also served as the founding president (1992-1997) of the University of Asia and the Pacific, which grew out of the Center for Research and Communication, of which he was the founding Executive Director (1969-1981).^[4]
• Pablo P. Garcia - Incumbent deputy speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Served as governor of Cebu from 1995 to 2004.
• John L. Gokongwei, Jr. - Filipino industrialist and tycoon^[5]; founder of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGSHI) and Chairman Emeritus effective January 1, 2002; #34 of Southeast Asia's 40 Richest (2005)^[6]
• Marcelo Briones Fernan - Former Senator of the Philippines. He is the only Filipino to have served as both Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and as Senate president. Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of San Carlos.
• Ramon Fernandez - Former Philippine Basketball Association player, who bore various nicknames: "The Franchise", "El Presidente" and "Don Ramon" during his playing days. Considered by experts to be the greatest Filipino basketball player of all time.
• Gregorio Y. Larrazabal - Comelec Commissioner.^[7]
• Lauro Mumar - Is a former Filipino basketball player and later served as the national team head coach of India and the Philippines. He was one of the greatest Filipino players of his time, playing alongside compatriot legend Carlos Loyzaga. He led the San Carlos College of Cebu City (now the University of San Carlos) to the first post-war Inter-Collegiate basketball championship in 1946.
• Vicente Rama - Former Senator of the Philippines and former mayor of Cebu City.^[8]
• Julius Caesar Herrera, vice-governor of Bohol, 2001 to present.
• Augusto Go - president and founder of the University of Cebu
• Mary Ann de los Santos - incumbent Barangay Captain of Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.

References

External links

• Official site