A Class of Cum Laudes -2

I’m sure many of those who received honors from UP deserved it.

Among them are UP Journalism graduates Jessica Hermosa and Johanna Sisante, whose thesis was named the best produced by the Class of 2008 of the College of Mass Communication (CMC). Their thesis was titled “Seat of Power: An Investigative Study on the Legislative Motives of the Authors of the Biofuels Act of 2006.” Their thesis adviser was Prof. Yvonne Chua.

The thesis was published as a two-part investigative report by Vera Files, an online publication that produces in-depth articles on various issues.

A Class of Cum Laudes

The emcee at the graduation yesterday of the University of the Philippines Diliman’s Class of 2008 said something that’s a bit disturbing: some 30 percent of the UP Diliman graduates were honor students. This means that one in three is a cum laude, a magna cum laude or a summa cum laude.

Either the Class of 2008, the Centennial batch, is extremely gifted, or UP teachers have become more lenient and their standards have dropped.

Maintaining UP’s high standards is important if it wishes to remain the country’s premier academic institution. But UP graduates aren’t the best anymore. (My son, who worked at the human resources department of a tech company in Makati, talks about UP graduates who are rejected because they couldn’t pass company exams or couldn’t converse comfortably and confidently in English).

How sad. Aside from the fact that standards have fallen, morals too are loosening. Knowing what is right and what is wrong is something a UP graduate should know, but there are indications UP is producing graduates who don’t, going by what was heard during the 2008 Recognition Rites of the National College of Public Administration Governance.