Silliman University

Jul 23, 2010 dumaguete, negros oriental, tourist spots

Established in 1901 by American missionaries under the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, Silliman University also referred to as Silliman or SU is the first Protestant school to be founded in the Philippines and also the oldest American established university in Asia.  The University was named after Dr. Horace Brinsmade Silliman, a retired businessman and philanthropist from Cohoes, New York who gave the initial sum of $10,000 to start the school.  The person tasked to found the institution was Dr. David Sutherland Hibbard, a pastor from Kansas who after serving as a pastor in a Presbyterian church in that locality, offered his services to the Presbyterian Board as a missionary.  Upon his arrival in the Philippines, he was commissioned, together with his wife Laura, to scout the southern part of the Islands to determine the best location for the school.  Three areas were considered Cebu, Zamboanga and Iloilo.  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.

On August 28, 1901, Silliman Institute was established. As the student population increased, the Institute also struggled to put in place a suitable curriculum.  It was in 1910 when Silliman was awarded government recognition and the right to grant a degree. In the same year it was incorporated under the laws of the Philippines.  By Board action in 1912, girls were admitted to the Institute. Silliman won full recognition as a university in 1938.  Silliman University is also registered as a National Landmark by the National Historical Institute because of the many historic events that occured inside the campus during the 2nd World War.    During this time Silliman was occupied by the Japanese forces and was converted into a garrison. One of its buildings, Channon Hall, became the headquarters of the dreaded Japanese kempeitai or military police where many Filipinos were tortured and killed.  For the first half of the century, Silliman was run and operated by Americans. After the Second World War and until the early nineteen fifties, moves for the Filipinization of the university administration began to come closer to the surface.  50 years later Dr. Hibbard recalled:

“There were fifteen boys that first morning. The equipment consisted of four long desks about ten 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.”

What started as a school with only 15 young boys and humble resources is now considered as among the Philippines’ top institutions of higher learning.  Silliman University is one of few private higher educational institutions in the country that have been granted autonomy by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the same government agency that recognized some of its programs as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development.  To date, fifteen of the University’s academic programs have been given Level III accreditation by recognized accrediting agencies.  From 1999-2005 period, CHED-PRC rank Silliman University 3rd in the Philippines.  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” and also known as the “center of learning in the south”, or a “university town” due to the presence of Silliman and other local universities that have made their mark nationally and abroad.  Silliman University is 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.  It is also the conducive residential campus life that sets Silliman University apart from the other leading universities in the Philippines.  The 12 regular and cooperative dormitories provide a home away from home for Silliman students who come from outside Dumaguete City.  In the dormitories, students belong to a family, a part of the bigger Silliman community.  Corollary to this sense of community is the “Silliman Spirit” – an atmosphere of personal closeness, warmth, friendship and concern.  The Silliman University Main Library became the first library outside Luzon to be awarded Outstanding Library by the Philippine Association of Academic Libraries.  It was recognized for its growing collection of over 250,000 volumes and its ongoing computerization program.  For the award, the Silliman University Main Library now joins the ranks of the libraries of the Asian Development Bank, International Rice Research Institute and Ateneo de Manila University.  Silliman also has a state of the art auditorium, has big swimming pool, tennis and pelota court, archery range, football field, gym, museum, and a hospital. Silliman offers programs in the early childhood, elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels.  Programs in the undergraduate and graduate levels cover various disciplines such as Accountancy, Business Administration, Engineering, Information Technology, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Biology, Chemistry, Education, Marine Sciences, Physics, Theology, Philosophy, Psychology, and Public Administration.  In addition to its academic undertakings, the Silliman University is also involved in research and community extension projects.

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