A Message from the
President
By Felicitas Villegas-Izar, ChE ‘69
Fifteen years ago, a group of college buddies got together for dinner to welcome a classmate who was visiting from the Philippines and started reminiscing about old times. With a strong desire to stay socially and professionally engaged, the seed for USTEAA(USA) was planted. From its early days of picnics and dinner-dances, the association has blossomed into an organized group with a noble mission to provide Scholarship Funds to deserving and needy students.
USTEAA(USA) flourished because of the many members it organized, and also its many excellent leaders. The group leadership comes in many forms, from strong, committed and energetic Committee Chairpersons to truly dedicated Founders and Presidents. Regardless of position, the association’s interest is the common invisible cord that binds them together.
I got to know the group four years ago and since then, I have believed in its mission. To date, we have graduated three scholars and are currently funding two students. This year, we have two fund raising initiatives: a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Kayumanggi Chorale Concert. Proceeds from both will go towards the Scholarship Fund. In addition to our annual social events, we lined up Golf and Hiking activities. In the works is a Special Lecturers' Program, as well as a Summer Internship Program to be offered to the senior engineering students of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Another area we are exploring is soliciting donations of laboratory equipment from US companies for the University. Our line up of officers now includes two vice-presidents. We have an In-Country VP and an Out-Of-Country VP. The latter's main goal is to be the liaison with the University.
We are very proud of our association’s achievements. But there is one area that we need to look into more closely: membership. The strength of an organization is in its members, and right now the association is in need of new and young members. For some reason, lately we have not been very successful at attracting new alumni. I am not sure if it is because we do not offer something that is of value to them, or perhaps, we need to refine our outreach to let them know that we exist.
The association’s main goal has been to support the education of needy and deserving students in the Philippines. While this is a noble mission, in the tough economic times that we are in now, our members’ focus is understandably on their own needs and survival. “What’s in it for me?”, one may ask. Perhaps it is time to include the interests and needs of not just the future but also the current members. A good number of the membership are of retirement age or had retired. How can the association help them? How can they help the association?
I respectfully submit these membership matters to the Board of Trustees. And because UST engineers are nothing if not innovative, I appeal to the general membership to come up with ideas that allow us to continue to keep the USTEAA(USA) relevant and effective. In my opinion, the future of the association depends on how it can adapt to its members' needs. ■
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