The comfort of the old and the promise of the new at DLSU's Centennial Closing

De La Salle University (DLSU) may have dropped some spots on the list of the top 300 universities in Asia, but the campus still had much to celebrate as it heralded its 101st birthday last June 15.

 

The school’s hallways were swarmed with people from as early as 9 in the morning until way into the night, echoing the chaos of the busy Taft Avenue which has housed the University since 1921.

 

The verdant landscape of green-and-white clad students and alumni served as the perfect backdrop to the launching of the university’s newest undertakings, starting with the blessing of the new Henry Sy, Sr. Hall whose clean lines, wide-open spaces, and shiny façade adds an ultramodern twist to the neoclassical columns and pristine white walls of its neighboring buildings.

 

“We believe in La Salle,” DLSU alumnus and SM empire scion Hans Sy told GMA News Online when asked why their corporation chose to fund the building.

 

Along with the hall’s blessing, the community also launched the beta version of the revamped DLSU website (the full version will be up in September), as well as their latest campus, the DLSU-STC (De La Salle University-Science and Technology Complex), formerly De La Salle Canlubang.

 

The gathering ended on a hopeful note as narra seedlings were distributed to guests, a symbol of beginnings and the bright future ahead. At that point, the campus teemed with potential and the promise of great new things.

 

But as the day wore on, Lasallians went back to the ways of old, to the favored practices that are never absent from any university-wide celebration on 2401 Taft.

 

The ever-present bazaar, for instance, filled up the Yuchengco lobby once more. And as usual, the green and white shirts replete with friendly jabs at the school’s Katipunan archrival were a hot commodity.

 

Of course, there was also a small flash mob at the amphitheater, one that almost lived up to the traffic-stopping one from the university’s Centennial kick-off last year. As the sea of green broke out in dance, the rest of the community lined up for the free food, catered by DLSU’s beloved cafeteria, Zaide.

Cultura Verde 

 

In the evening, colors of all kinds filled the Henry Sy Hall lobby as performers from the 17 different Lasallian schools across the country performed at the Cultura Verde show.

 

Performers from the Taft university and as nearby as its neighboring College of St. Benilde and as far away as La Salle University in Ozamis took to the stage and brought the audience on a ride across the Philippines, bringing to life the distinct culture of the places where they come from.

 

Other performers at Cultura Verde include La Salle Green Hills’ Airforce, the De La Salle Zobel Symphony Orchestra, the Pointes & Flexes and Filipiniana Dance Companies of DLSU Dasmariñas, Lucid Dance Group of De La Salle Canlubang, the Salindayaw Dance Company of De La Salle Lipa, the Faculty Singing Ensemble from St. Joseph School in Bacolod, Tribong Lasalyano of De La Salle John Bosco College in Bislig, and the HSI Chorale of the Health Sciences Institute in Dasmariñas.

 

Lasallianation and 'hail, hail, hail'

 

The cultural show was then followed by what many considered to be the main event, the Lasallianation concert which took place at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium, and was broadcast live on big screens placed strategically across campus.

 

The concert featured the Lasallianation, a collection of the crème de la crème of Lasallian performers including Randy Santiago who also directed the show, Gian Magdangal, Frencheska Farr, Cooky Chua, Lissa del Valle, Sarah Caballero, Dingdong Avanzado, Epi Quizon, Zia Quizon, Carlo Orosa, the Akafellas, The Tux, Kundirana, De La Salle InnerSoul, La Salle Dance Company, La Salle Youth Orchestra, the Harlequin Theater Guild, the DLSU Animo Squad, and some student athletes.

 

In between performances, videos of famous DLSU alumni were shown against an electric green Tron-esque background. Celebrities from different fields were shown expressing their pride in their alma mater, and looking forward to the university’s next century.

 

Among the special guests who made appearances on video were singer Kitchie Nadal, writer and “Best Men” host RJ Ledesma, director Joey Reyes, entrepreneur Camille Meloto, news anchor Pinky Webb, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes, Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, and Senator Kiko Pangilinan.

 

The concert ended with what else but a solemn chorus of the Alma Mater song filling the vast auditorium from top to bottom as both the Lasallianation artists and the audience raised their arms to sing the well-known verses.

 

After the dramatic display of school spirit, the artists stayed on stage to sing another song as the audience left the theater and rushed downstairs to secure a prime spot for the fireworks display.

 

“Ang sarap maging Lasalista!” a member of the audience cried out in glee as he rushed out the theater doors with the chorus “L-a-s-a-l-l-i-a-n” playing in the background.

 

Not long after, the fireworks came. The landscape of the school has changed slightly as the Centennial Hall cast its silver shadow on the crowd gathered at the amphitheater, but the fireworks had much the same effect and for a good five minutes, the Lasallian community was rendered silent, except for the ohhs and ahhs that punctuated the fireworks display.

 

Later, after the last of the fireworks blazed through the darkness, Lasallians once again raised their voices to sing the alma mater song under the night sky. As the final “hail, hail, hail” was sung with the token accompanying fist pump, another voice said the exact same line that another had earlier declared: “Ang sarap maging Lasalista!” 

 

It seemed that for the future that awaits the university and the traditions it has kept thus far, this was the single most repeated thought on every Lasallian’s mind that day. –KG, GMA News