SU Grace Award 2024 honors 10 Student Services staff
Ten (10) 澳门六合彩下注平台 (SU) Office of Student Services (OSS) personnel who have rendered years of service in different capacities were recognized during the annual Grace Award 2024 ceremony of the OSS, under Dr. Edna Gladys T. Calingacion鈥檚 leadership, and in celebration of its Diamond Jubilee, at the Audio-Visual Theatre on April 23, 2024.
This year鈥檚 Grace Award honorees include Feledelfo D. Oira, Glynnis Jean C. Casi帽o, Larry Vincent C. Regencia, Aniceto S. Garcia, Leandro S. Cabrera, Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, Rina M. Fernandez-Hill, Roberto A. Estoconing, Sabinita P. Condicion, and Generoso D. Monopollo, Jr. (posthumous award).
Generoso D. Monopollo, Jr. served as maintenance custodian for COCOFED Dormitory, Ethel Chapman, and Edith Carson Hall from 1990 to 2017. The Grace Award 2024 was posthumously awarded to Monopollo Jr., whose wife couldn鈥檛 make it to the event to receive the award on her husband鈥檚 behalf due to personal reasons.
Established in 2017 to honor the loyalty and excellence of service behind select personnel in the OSS who have helped provide services for students as dormitory managers, guidance counselors, or maintenance and utility custodians, the Grace Award is named after Grace W. Carr, a nurse faculty who served as Matron of Oriental Hall in the 1930s. The award has then been presented annually since 2017.
According to Moses Joshua B. Atega, chairperson of the Grace Award Committee and International Students Office (ISO) adviser, the Grace Award is inspired from a passage in the Scriptures, particularly from John 1: 16-17 (NRSV), which says, 鈥淔rom his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.鈥 The Award is a prestigious honor anchored in faith, where only by the grace of God can the opportunity to serve be made possible.
鈥淎ll honorees have this 鈥榣ove for Silliman鈥 in all their years of service. This is evident in their sense of pride in having served on campus. Manong Cito [Aniceto S. Garcia] of our dormitory maintenance team shared this with the smile of a joyful heart,鈥 Atega said in an email correspondence when asked what a common quality this year鈥檚 awardees share.
Maria Luz Cole-Havranek, Speech and Theatre alumna and former 鈥淏ig Sister鈥 of Sampaguita Cottage who served as the event鈥檚 guest speaker, thanked all the student service providers recognized during the ceremony.
鈥淲e are here today to honor our beloved dormitory managers and to honor everyone who has given their life in the service of 澳门六合彩下注平台 Student Services,鈥 Cole-Havranek said in her message.
As a parent herself whose daughter also graduated from SU, Cole-Havranek applauded the awardees for their service, one that she described as 鈥 the mortar that binds us to the foundation of our being Sillimanians and the Silliman spirit that we share.鈥
Meanwhile, Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, SU vice president for Academic Affairs (VPAA), celebrated the 鈥渆xceptional dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment鈥 of these esteemed colleagues in the Student Services, and emphasized the significance of the awards being bestowed upon the honorees.
鈥淭hese awards are a testament to the outstanding contributions and exemplary service of our personnel who play a vital role in shaping holistic educational experiences of our students. Their tireless efforts, compassion, and professionalism have made a significant impact on the lives of our students, creating an enduring and supportive environment that fosters growth and success,鈥 Cleope said.
Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, one of the awardees, closed the ceremony by reminiscing the good old days while seeing familiar faces and meeting new acquaintances among her co-awardees.
鈥淎s retirees, our only job is to reminisce probably鈥 we can now leisurely walk along the paths of Silliman campus, remembering how, day-in and day-out through [the] years, we hurriedly went our business and may have failed to notice the changing of seasons of the acacia trees and other plant havens in the campus,鈥 Nacu recalled.
Nacu underscored that the reason she loved her job was because of the relationships she had fostered with students, one that 鈥渨e will always, even now, hold dear in our hearts.鈥
She then reminded her co-awardees to always be proud of being part of the lives of all students who have left the halls of Silliman during their time of service.
鈥淭hat is our greatest reward,鈥 she said, addressing her co-awardees.
Also present at the awarding ceremony were Dr. Edna Gladys T. Calingacion, OSS dean; Dr. Lourdes Angela F. Pi帽ero, OD-HRM director; Dr. Jaruvic C. Rafols, Guidance and Testing Division (GTD) head; Princeton E. Apura, 澳门六合彩下注平台 (SU) Student Housing and Residence Division (SHRD) head; Abe P. Cadeli帽a, SU Student Organizations and Activities Division (SOAD) head; Rodora T. Sagun, Student Scholarship and Aid Division head; and Rev. Jonathan R. Pia, Senior Pastor and Minister to the SU Church. Staff of the OSS were also at the event.