Written by SORA
Art by Shinkiro
UST has a long history of turning their back on petitions made by their own students. Noting the time when our UST central student council filed a petition letter regarding the institution's continuity plan during the ongoing 2020 pandemic in the Philippines.
This petition suggested to either end the term, mass promote its students with accompanied bridging classes and/or freeze the current semester or term. UST stood firm in their decision by stating their preparedness and eagerness in giving what’s best for their students in keeping education alive during these pressing times.
But UST has finally stopped falling on deaf ears towards the students' concerns. Due to a number of requests of different student organizations inside of UST, the Permission to post memorandum regulations were revised. This is a good step for UST after all the issues that the university is facing.
With the release of multiple revisions, it is clear that UST intends to listen. The memorandum is essential, but the university should have researched and studied their guidelines further before release. These revisions could have been done during the research stages of the guidelines instead of when it was released.
CHED’s memorandum order could be one of the reasons for UST to abruptly come up with such guidelines. This memorandum required student organizations to report their activities to their respective school administration. Guidelines were then recently released by UST which required permission to post forms to be accomplished before any social media posts can be published.
In creating such guidelines, it is vital to fit the stakeholders’ best interest. However, it is also necessary to have a compromise between the control of administrators and the freedom of their students.
These guidelines felt unnecessary and other student leaders thought so as well. The Anakbayan Chapter in UST stated that they condemned the guidelines given and have requested for the memo to be abolished. Additionally the League of Filipino Students said that the approval process was a burden to the students and their respective advisers since it adds another set of approval within the group resulting in slower information dissemination.
Believe it or not, the students’ comments and criticisms towards the memorandum led changes for the greater good. UST was right in hearing the petitions which led the decision to the right direction. It also became a way of letting their student leaders know that they are still with them during these trying times.
Regulation of UST orgs’ social media is reasonable as long as it is done out of good purpose. UST proved the purity of their intention by providing a better set of guidelines that guarantee the school’s control in social media outside the campus without sacrificing the student body’s voice in crucial matters. This gave an opportunity to keep the organization’s voices in social media but also give governing bodies a say in virtual events.
In creating crucial decisions, the university should not do things on the spur of the moment. As bearers of the name Royal and Pontifical university, we should be able to show a level of competence, compassion and commitment towards our own constituents. The purpose of the law should always be above the law itself, after all.
