With the majority of MSUans voting against its implementation, the University Week project of the MSU-GenSan Supreme Student Council (SSC) was scrapped during their 2nd General Assembly held at the University Gymnasium, January 20.
Several MSUans expressed strong opposition to the proposed project, pointing out reasons such as conflicts with academic schedules, redundancy with each college’s college week, and challenges in student participation.
Photo by: Krishtine Rivera
Representing widespread opposition, Zyrex Kier Cortez, a student from the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), argued that the event was unnecessary, calling it "redundant."
Additionally, Cortez noted that the second semester is already hectic as it is packed with many academic and organizational commitments.
“Ang second semester, Mr. Chair, is super packed na ng mga events within colleges. Second semester is super full of college weeks, department weeks, heritage months,” Cortez stated.
Cortez explained that proceeding with the event at this time would not be advisable, noting concerns about administrative burdens, the impact on other organizations, and the potential delays caused by scheduling conflicts.
SSC’s stand
In defense of the SSC, Hon. Ramzel Delloro, Senator for Students’ Rights and Welfare (STRAW), insisted that the initiative has little to no administrative interference, reinforcing its independence.
“For so many years, in the past administrations, pre-pandemic levels, the reason why university week happens is because we really wanted–the students really wanted a student-led initiative, na purely students ang nag le-lead,” Delloro remarked.
Hon. Delloro also urged further deliberations regarding the project and discussions on reducing unnecessary expenses and making the event less taxing on organizations, reiterating its value as a student-centered celebration.
“Maganda talaga siya na initiative for the students, kasi there's no admin interference at all,” Hon. Delloro argued.
Colleges’ unified stand
Following a 10-minute caucus, the ex-officio representatives from various colleges presented their college constituents’ collective objections.
For Hon. Muhammad Farhan Akil, president of the Institute of Islamic, Arabic, and International Studies Organization (IIAISSO), their main concern is the difficulty of recruiting participants for their college, due to low student availability as the proposed university week coincides with the Ramadan season.
On the other hand, Hon. Ian Earnest Lopez, president of the Engineering Students Organization (ESO), stressed a need to prioritize academics, noting a decline in student’s academic performance following the recent intramurals.
“As of now, nag strict naman gud among college, wherein, there are students na man gud na na dismiss. Kaya, as of now, I am not allowing this because I want the students to focus more on their academics kay after Intrams gid, the college was affected [with] great damage to the academics of our students,” Hon. Lopez shared.
Decision reached
The assembly deliberated between two options: to table the proposal, allowing it to be presented during the General Assembly of college organizations with a student vote determining its fate, or to scrap the project entirely.
In the end, the proposal was decisively scrapped.
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