Many say that once you become a part of the University, you never really leave. Last Dec. 14, the homecoming celebration united the past and the present, with hundreds of Alumni returning to campus ranging from members of the class of 1952 celebrating their 51st reunion to members of the class of 2013 celebrating their first.
The 2013 Alumni Homecoming celebration was dedicated to inviting alumni back to campus and sharing the FU pride through a fellowship with a special emphasis on re-engaging past students in their alma mater.
While in some ways FU has cherished and maintained certain Homecoming traditions, it has also moved forward, finding new ways to celebrate and new causes for pride in the institution, its students and its alumni.
In her speech, Charlotte Carino, president of the Foundation University Alumni Association, said she is happy to see familiar faces back on campus, and this time not as students but as professionals. She also presented before the alumni FU’s Grand Plan for the coming years. It is a plan which, according to her, would improve the physical condition and design of the school facility in anticipation of the need for a bigger enrollment in the coming years.
Under the plan, the present High School building will be expanded into a four-story facility, and that the Balay sa Alumni will be subsumed into the new four-story structure.
“The new Balay sa Alumni will have eleven rooms which will be equivalent to the rooms of five star hotels,” said Carino. From the top of the building, people can have their own unique view of the beautiful campus.
On that eventful day, the FU campus was decorated with colorful college booths which became a venue for various activities and student exhibits. With such a grand celebration, one of the alumni from batch 2009 said she is very proud of her school and her returning to campus four years after graduation is one she will always cherish.
The homecoming celebration also hosted a benefit concert that featured five local bands namely: Hopia, JSquad, Ground Zero, Xaris and Nicky. The concert is aimed at supporting local bands and a dream to build a multipurpose building for the flood survivors from Typhoon Sendong two years ago.
Moments later, spectacular fireworks shot into the sky, capping a full day of the 2013 FU Alumni Homecoming festivities. (Paul Edward Bajas)
