This is a pretty interesting summary of Silliman's history. I should know. I've been talking about it to visitors as a Campus Ambassador for four years in my college life. A feature for the Founders Day Celebration this August 28, the article was published in today's Manila Bulletin (most likely thanks to OIP's Mark Garcia).
I can't wait to go home.:)
TO most Americans in the late 1800, Dumaguete was a name their tongue was still to master. Even the Philippines, which at that time was still recovering from the onslaught of the Spanish-American War, was not on the immediate list for a Presbyterian mission. But it took the vision and commitment of a man to turn this around.
Dr. Arthur Carson, third president of the Silliman University, wrote in his book about how a man’s strong resolve to help shape Philippine education paved the way for the establishment of a university. That man was Dr. Horace B. Silliman, a retired businessman of the town of Cohoes in New York State.
In 1899, Dr. Silliman appeared at the office of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions with the conviction that the Filipino people needed a new kind of education. To support this, he contributed the initial sum of ,000 toward the founding of an industrial school.
Legend has it that the board secretary explained that the board had only begun to consider a mission in the Philippines. At that time, news was fresh on the naval victory of Admiral Dewey over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. It might be too early for a school.
But the visitor persisted. Something had caught his imagination about these islands, and the people whom he had never seen and whom he would never meet.
Dr. Silliman had long been an active supporter of schools and colleges, including Hampton Institute of Virginia. His proposal was for an industrial school in the Philippines on the Hampton model.
The mission in the Philippines started with Dr. David Sutherland Hibbard and wife, Laura. Cebu, Zamboanga and Iloilo were considered. While in Cebu, someone suggested for him to make a side trip to Dumaguete. Sailing from Cebu on a Saturday night, he came out early on deck the next morning and saw "the unsurpassed drama of a Dumaguete morning from the sea."
It was told that the friendly attitude of the people and the caliber of the local officials attracted him to Dumaguete, a "place of health and beauty."
On August 28, 1901, Silliman Institute was established. As Dr. Hibbard described the modest beginning of Silliman half a century later:
"There were 15 boys that first morning. The equipment consisted of four desks about 10 feet long, two tables and two chairs, a few McGuffey’s Readers, a few geographies, arithmetics and ninth-grade grammars. I was president; Mrs. Hibbard was the faculty."
Enrollment grew gradually to include students from Asian countries. 1912 marked the admission into the university of the first female student, Pura Blanco. Silliman was granted university status in 1938.
PRESENT TIMES
All of the country’s top universities would boast of offering quality education. Silliman is no different. But while it joins the ranks of prestigious Philippine universities, it is humbled by a gift of a location that bespeaks of the natural environment’s complement to academic learning – one feature that sets Silliman apart from the rest.
Dotted with over 300 acacia trees, the Silliman campus is uniquely embraced in between views of the Cuernos de Negros mountains in its background and the Visayan sea at its frontage. The 62-hectare campus offers patches of greens on where personal relationships are nurtured, spiritual nourishment facilitated, and the concept of quality student life redefined.
Silliman University is a melting pot of cultures and religions. Of its overall population of 8,400, over 300 are international students from 23 different countries. Its affiliation with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines as a Protestant university has never been a hindrance to the exercise of religious freedom. Majority of Silliman students are Roman Catholics and a good number are Muslims from Mindanao.
The university is located in the charming city of Dumaguete, dubbed the "City of Gentle People," an hour away by plane from Manila and four hours away by boat from Cebu. Silliman thrives in a city where the strip of restaurants offering good food along the boulevard and where everything a student needs is just a stone’s throw away. While offering the coveted "retirement getaway" environment, the city is not left behind by progress. You can find infrastructure developments and businesses sprouting in support of the city’s "University Town" concept.
Campus life revolves around the motto Via, Veritas, Vita (of Christ being the Way, the Truth, the Life). It is Silliman’s mission to develop the whole person within the Christian context and in a sound environment. Students are expected to put their education to work in service to others – another mark that distinguishes Silliman from other institutions of higher learning.
The 12 regular and cooperative dormitories provide a home away from home for Silliman students who come from outside Dumaguete. In the dormitories, students belong to a family, a part of the bigger Silliman community.
*Read the rest here.
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