EXCLUSIVE: Record-high 55 students to graduate summa cum laude from UP Diliman

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 55 summa cum laude graduates are set to receive their diploma from the University of the Philippines – Diliman on Sunday, June 30.

Assistant University Registrar Aaron Abel Mallari said the number of summa cum laude graduates from UP Diliman this year is the highest, not only in the history of the Diliman campus, but in the history of the UP System.

“2019 has the highest number of summa cum laude graduates since 1911,” Mallari told INQUIRER.net, as he noted that the UP System was established in 1908.

Mallari added that the number of summa cum laude graduates this year from the Diliman campus doubled the average of the campus over the last 10 years.

“From 2009 to 2018, the average number of summa cum laude [in UP Diliman] is 24. From 2009 to 2018, for example, the highest number that was recorded was in 2017 with around 36 summa cum laude,” Mallari explained.

The College of Engineering has the highest number of summa cum laude graduates this year with 18, followed by the College of Science with 12, and the Virata School of Business with six.

Other summa cum laude graduates came from the following colleges:

• College of Social Sciences and Philosophy — 5 summa cum laude graduates
• College of Fine Arts — 4 summa cum laude graduates
• College of Human Kinetics — 3 summa cum laude graduates
• School of Economics — 3 summa cum laude graduates
• College of Arts and Letters — 1 summa cum laude graduate
• College of Mass Communication — 1 summa cum laude graduate
• College of Education — 1 summa cum laude graduate
• School of Statistics — 1 summa cum laude graduate

This year’s class valedictorian took up Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and received a general weighted average of 1.019.

Mallari said a total of 3,981 undergraduate students will be receiving their diploma at the UP Diliman graduation rites on Sunday at the University Amphitheater. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)