With the pandemic still plaguing the country, De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) opted for another virtual graduation to honor the 167 new alumni in the 33rd Commencement Exercises streamed via Youtube, Aug. 10.
Lasallian graduates from College of Law (CoL), College of Business, Economics, Accountancy, and Management (CBEAM), College of Education, Arts, and Sciences (CEAS), College of International, Hospitality, and Tourism Management (CIHTM), and College of Information Technology and Engineering (CITE) were recognized within the confines of their homes as they watched their degrees being officially presented to them through a screen.
Commencement speaker Rowena Cristina L. Guevara PhD, undersecretary for research and development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the first woman dean of the UP College of Engineering, encouraged the graduates to continue carrying out the institution’s visions of sustainability for the development of the country.
“I hope you would consider staying in the country and building a society founded on equity and justice and sustainable and inclusive development as De La Salle Lipa has taught and nurtured you,” Guevara said.
Meanwhile, Jean Roshel Balita, batch valedictorian and an industrial engineering graduate, advised her fellow graduates on how to meet the realities of life now that they are no longer students.
“Like our situation now, the pandemic has shown us that the world we live in is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous […] How do we face a world that is ever-changing? De La Salle Lipa has been teaching us how all along,” Balita said.
Balita also expressed that the institution has taught her and her batchmates to think strategically, to encourage a culture of innovation in their respective fields, and to be adaptable during these uncertain times.
In an earlier interview, Aileen Joy Saul, the college graduation committee chair, said that virtual graduation was already decided in advance to abide by the health and safety protocols since the pandemic still prevents any kind of face-to-face gatherings.
She then added that organizing the virtual graduation has proven difficult because the dissemination and collection of information was mostly done online.
