Screengrab from Jezreel Ines social media post
MANILA, Philippines — Graduating students of the University of the Philippines (UP) expressed dismay after being drenched in rain for what was supposed to be a celebration of a lifetime — their graduation rites held on Sunday.
To recall, UP’s 112th Commencement Exercises, addressing 4,478 graduates of the Class of 2023 were cut short to approximately 30 minutes due to inclement weather.
The event was supposed to be extra-special as over half of the graduating students finished with Latin honors, led by 305 summa cum laude graduates, 1,196 magna cum laude graduates and 742 cum laudes.
Graduating students deserve better
One graduating student pointed out on Twitter that the UP administration could have handled the rites differently, noting how many of the attendees had to travel long distances just to participate in the ceremony.
https://twitter.com/jezreelines_/status/1685470571017166848
“The ceremony lasted less than an hour and could have been avoided if they had considered the ongoing storm since last week. Our UPD graduation wasn’t what I had envisioned, the graduates deserved better,” they added.
Meanwhile, another attendee said that the incident reflected UP’s “unpreparedness in adapting to climate change.”
“The sunflowers may still bloom in July, but we can’t confidently expect sunny graduations anymore. Ironic, considering how many ‘brilliant’ brains we have as resources,” they added.
what happened today is quite a glimpse of UP's unpreparedness in adapting to climate change
the sunflowers may still bloom in July, but we can't confidently expect sunny graduations anymore
ironic, considering how many 'brilliant' brains we have as resources #Sablay2023
— J-Ann Avila (@j_ann_avila) July 30, 2023
Meanwhile, another netizen poked fun at the incident, pointing out how it broke another record for conducting the shortest graduation rites.
In fact, University of the Philippines President Angelo Jimenez, who was supposed to be this year’s commencement speaker was not even able to deliver his speech personally during the graduation rites.
“Sadly, he was not able to deliver his speech in person because the program was cut short dahil sa lakas ng ulan [because of heavy rain]. The UP Diliman Administration, in fact, binigyan nila ng abiso ang mga estudyante na sa program nila na [they advised students that during the program] if the rainfall is heavy during the time of ceremony, the program will be cut short,” assistant vice president for UP academic affairs Shari Oliquino told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview on Monday.
Oliquino said that Jimenez was set to announce the institution’s plans to “lead the way” in improving the quality of education in state universities and colleges (SUCS) nationwide.
He was also supposed to announce that in partnership with the Commission on Higher Education and other SUCs, UP is set to hold a summit in September addressing challenges in establishing collaborations between SUCs.
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