A Special Feature on Br. Gus 07.18.2007

The installation of Br. Gus on July 18 as president of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas (DLSU-D) and De La Salle-Health Sciences Campus (DLS-HSC) marks the merging of strength that comes from the diversity and richness of resources that the two Lasallian institutions have in store for its stakeholders.

“I am only one, but I will work with all,” the new president says as he expresses his intention to ensure the constant flow of happy things inside both campuses by making one team out of his people and giving them the power to make things happen in their own lives and in the lives of the people who seek their help.

The new administration has a long list of projects that
are meant to be accomplished within one to three years’ time, each especially designed in one way or another to alleviate the burden of people who have less in life. Among the top priorities is the provision of full scholarship for one out of every five students enrolled at DLSU-D by 2011.

The construction of a master plan to attract the best minds to become scholars of the University is under way, while efforts to source funds for the project have been taken. In addition to the University’s internal resources and gift-giving campaign, Br. Gus’s enthusiasm to enlist the assistance of the local and national governments as well as that of foreign benefactors will help secure funding for this project.

At the same time, the Brother President also pledges to upgrade medical services at the University Medical Center of DLS-HSC by putting up ten additional charity beds every year until it reaches his initial goal of a hundred, by building more clinics to narrow the gap in the doctor-patient ratio, and by expanding the equipment acquisition plans of DLS-HSC.

While Br. Gus is heedful of the needs of the poor, he never neglects the welfare of his people and the institutions he vows to serve.

“If there’s anything I’d like to do, first and foremost, it is to make sure that the faculty and the non-teaching staff are the happiest people on campus because that would become very contagious. When they are extremely happy, the students will also get affected and vice versa,” he gleams.

In the context of preserving and strengthening the academic reputation of the two institutions, on the other hand, the president wishes to zero in on the existing research programs and assess what else can be done to make such programs more relevant to the needs of the region and the country in general and produce output that will have strong impact on the Philippine society if not the world.

Likewise, Br. Gus is optimistic on maintaining and even improving the top-level board examination performances of DLSU-D and DLS-HSC. He is proud to acknowledge that the College of Midwifery of DLS-HSC has a 100 percent passing rate, that the College of Nursing is among the top nursing schools in the country, and that the Department of Surgery in the College of Medicine is second only to UP-PGH.

“But we have to do more,” he emphasizes. “I’d like to see that we are number one in Medicine. Once you reach that level of excellence in academics, then you’re able to attract the best minds.” The Brother President hopes that these ‘best minds’ will become good leaders in the profession of their choice and help in turning the province around in cooperation with the government and members of civil society.

There’s a lot of work to do, a great deal of needs to be acted upon, hundreds of dreams to make come true, and thousands of thoughts and feelings to listen to; but the Brother President never runs out of cheer. He says, “Knowing that, the grace will be with me, and this grace will enlighten me and give me hope, the necessary guiding hand to bring DLSU-D and DLS-HSC to where they should be and could be.”