The enduring purpose of education
Perspective is one of the defining traits of human experience. It shapes how we see the world, allowing the same milestone to carry vastly different meanings depending on the lens through which it is viewed.
Consider the measure of time. For an individual, reaching the age of 80 is often regarded as the twilight of life—a remarkable milestone that exceeds the average life expectancy and is rightly celebrated as a blessing. For an institution, however, especially one imbued with as noble a pursuit as education dispensation, 80 years signify something entirely different: not a winding down, but a renewed commitment to the future.
This is the perspective that comes to mind as the University of the East (UE) marks its 80th founding anniversary this September. It is a milestone that invites gratitude for the past while challenging us to imagine what lies ahead.
Few would have imagined that the modest two-room review center for aspiring certified public accountants established in 1946 would grow into one of the country’s leading private universities. Across eight decades, UE has produced nearly 300,000 graduates who have served with distinction in government, business, education, health care, law, engineering, the arts and countless other fields—not only in the Philippines but also around the world.
That journey has been one of constant transformation. Today, UE comprises two campuses, eight undergraduate colleges, a college of law, graduate programs, K-12 education, and its long-standing partnership with the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. Soon, it will add another chapter through the establishment of its new Eton Laguna campus.
Institutions, however, are never defined by buildings alone. They are shaped by the people who devote their lives to them.
UE owes much to visionary leaders across generations. Francisco Dalupan Sr. organized Certified Public Accountant review classes with a close-knit group of passionate peers, grew the undertaking into a full-fledged college, and ultimately became founding chair and president when the fast-growing, multi-degree offering project was granted government-certified university status.
Fast forward to the ‘90s, UE accountancy graduate and former Philippine National Bank president Panfilo Domingo, as chair and chief executive officer (CEO), steered his alma mater back to stability and its pre-new millennium prime, including seeing the school through its 50th and 60th anniversaries.
Former Commission on Higher Education chair Ester Albano Garcia brought decades of academic leadership and public service to the university, devoting 17 years of her otherwise retirement era as then UE president and chief academic officer. Today, chair and CEO Lucio Tan continues to support UE as a distinctive institution within a diverse group of enterprises.
Yet the university’s true strength has always rested with thousands whose names rarely appear in history books—the administrators who keep operations running, the staff members who quietly sustain daily life on campus, and, above all, the faculty who shape minds one class at a time. Their work, often unseen, has made every generation of UE graduates possible.
Through their collective efforts, UE has endured challenges that could have overwhelmed many institutions. It weathered the uncertainties of martial law, survived financial crises, overcame a near transfer to a foreign group, adapted to intensifying competition in higher education, and navigated the unprecedented disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, another transformation confronts universities everywhere. Artificial intelligence is changing how knowledge is accessed, produced, and applied at a pace few could have imagined years ago. Some see this as a threat to higher education. We see it differently.
Information has never been more abundant. What is increasingly scarce is judgment—the ability to ask the right questions, evaluate evidence, think critically, exercise wisdom, and act with integrity. Those are qualities that no technology can simply automate. They remain the enduring purpose of education.
That is why anniversaries are not merely occasions to celebrate longevity. They are opportunities to reaffirm purpose.
As UE enters its ninth decade, we do so with gratitude for those who came before us, confidence in those who continue our mission, and optimism for the generations still to come.
After 80 years of service to the youth, to the nation, and to God, we believe UE is not approaching the culmination of its story. It is just getting started amid new challenges.
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Dr. Zosimo M. Battad is president and chief academic officer of the University of the East, a private academic institution founded in 1946 which once had the highest enrollment in Asia.
