University of Santo Tomas - History

History

The foundation of the University is ascribed to Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the third Archbishop of Manila. He came to the Philippines with the first Dominican mission in 1587. He went on to become bishop of Nueva Segovia, and was promoted archbishop of Manila in 1601. Upon his death in July 1605, Benavides bequeathed his library and personal property worth 1,500 pesos to be used as the seed fund for the establishment of an institution of higher learning. Fr. Bernardo de Santa Catalina carried out Benavides’ wishes and was able to secure a building near the Dominican church and convent in Intramuros for the College.

In 1609, permission to open the College was requested from King Philip III of Spain, which only reached Manila in 1611. On April 28, 1611, notary Juan Illian witnessed the signing of the act of foundation by Baltazar Fort, OP, Bernardo Navarro, OP, and Francisco Minayo, OP. Fort, appointed that year to the post of Father Provincial, was its first Rector.

The Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario was established on April 28, 1611, from the Benavides's library. Later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomás, it was elevated by Pope Innocent X to a university on November 20, 1645 in his brief, In Supreminenti. This made the university the second royal and pontifical institution in the Philippines, after the Jesuit's Universidad de San Ignacio which was founded in 1590 but closed in 1768 following the expulsion of the Society of Jesus from the Philippines.

Its complete name is The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines (Spanish: A La Real y Pontificia Universidad de Santo Tomas de Aquino Universidad Católica de Filipinas). It was given the title "Royal" by King Charles III of Spain on 1785; "Pontifical" by Pope Leo XIII on 1902 in his constitution, Quae Mari Sinico, and the appellative "The Catholic University of the Philippines" by Pope Pius XII in 1947.

The university was located within the walled city of Intramuros in Manila. It was started by the Spanish Archbishop of Manila in the early 17th century as a seminary for aspiring young priests, taking its name and inspiration from Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian. The first courses offered by the Colegio de Santo Tomás were canon law, theology, philosophy, logic, grammar, the arts, and civil law. In 1871, it began offering degrees in Medicine and Pharmacy, the first in colonized Asia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, with the growing student population, the Dominicans bought land at the Sulucan Hills in Sampaloc, Manila and built its 215,000 square meter campus there in 1927 with the inauguration of its Main Building. Also that year, it began accepting female enrollees. In the last four decades, the university grew into a full-fledged institution of higher learning, conferring degrees in law, medicine and various academic letters. The university has graduated Philippine national heroes, presidents, and even saints. The Medicine and Civil Law courses were retained in Intramuros at that time.

During World War II, the Japanese forces bombed the Intramuros campus and converted the Sampaloc campus into an internment camp for enemy aliens, mostly Americans, living in the Philippines. More than 4,000 foreigners survived under difficult conditions in the internment camp for 37 months from January 1942 until February 1945 when the camp was liberated by American soldiers.

Since its establishment in 1611, the University's academic life was interrupted only twice: from 1898 to 1899, during the Philippine Revolution against Spain, and from 1942 to 1945, during the Japanese occupation of the country. In its long history, the university has been under the leadership of more than 90 Rectors. UST's first Filipino rector was Fr. Leonardo Legaspi, O.P. who served UST from 1971 to 1977. Its current rector is Rev. Fr. Herminio P. Dagohoy, O.P.

In recognition of its achievements, a number of important dignitaries have officially visited the university, among them, during the last four decades: His Holiness Pope Paul VI on 28 November 1970; His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1974 and 1995; Mother Teresa of Calcutta in January 1977 and again in November 1984; His Holiness Pope John Paul II on 18 February 1981 and 13 January 1995 (as part of the World Youth Day 1995); Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain in July 6, 2012. In January 1997, Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement also visited the University and was awarded an 'Honoris Causa' Degree in Sacred Theology.

On the 2010–2011 academic year, UST had 41,653 students enrolled.