“I say this with enormous pride—we are a school that celebrates the female perspective and way of doing things. These girls who are with us today will be tomorrow’s ‘women leaders in service,’" says Dr. Rosario Oreta Lapus in her inaugural speech during her investiture as the 8th president of Miriam College in the Marian Auditorium last Friday, January 28. In front of the country’s premier women’s college Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, faculty, alumni, selected students, representatives from various government agencies, and the diplomatic corps, Dr. Lapus took the oath administered by Commission on Higher Education chairperson Dr. Patricia Licuanan, the immediate past president of Miriam College. Dr. Lapus rose from the ranks in the college where she started working as faculty in 1979-2005, chair of the Department of Child Development and Education in 1994-1998, dean of the Graduate School in 1988-1991, dean of the College in 1992-1998, and Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1998-2001. Prior to her appointment as president starting June 2010, Dr. Lapus was serving as project director and Massachussetts statewide coordinator for Healthy Aging Evidence-based Programs at the Action for Boston Community Development Elder Services, the largest non-profit human services agency in New England, United States of America. Miriam College along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City was formerly known as Maryknoll College run by the Maryknoll Sisters from New York City. The college’s history dates back to 1926 in its first campus in Malabon. It transferred in its present site in Loyola Heights, Quezon City in 1952. In 1977, the ownership and management of the school was turned over to lay administrators. In 1989, after a series of consultations, Maryknoll College was re-named Miriam College after the Aramaic name of Mother Mary, the school’s patron. Its new name is also a tribute to Sister Miriam Thomas Thornton, M.M., who devoted 50 years of service to Maryknoll College. Dr. Lapus is a graduate on Maryknoll High School in 1958. Her personal life is deeply rooted in the institution she is heading now. Her mother, Rosario Adriano-Oreta was among the first graduates of Maryknoll in Malabon while her aunt, Dr. Paz Adriano, was the school’s first Filipino and lay president in 1976-1978. Dr. Lapus holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of the Philippines. She has two masters’ degrees—one in Early Childhood Development from Boston College in Massachusetts and another one in Gerontology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. In 1963, she graduated cum laude with a degree of Bachelor of Arts major in Foreign Service and minor in English from Assumption Convent in Makati City. The Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where Dr. Lapus was a Visiting Associate in 1991-1992 and 1998-2000, extended their congratulations to her appointment as the new president of Miriam College. It is in this ivy league university that Dr. Lapus got her post-doctoral training doing research on issues related to the philosophy of education and the teaching-learning process. Dr. Lapus is known for her student-centered philosophy, innovative and forward-looking programs and people-oriented working style. “We are acutely aware of our mission—which is to educate, nurture, train, work with, and stretch and challenge the girls and young women in our care so that they can be their very best selves in every respect," she said. Maryknoll/Miriam College is celebrating the 85th year of its foundation this year. As one community, Miriam College is upholding the core values of truth, justice, peace, and integrity of creation. Its vision and mission could be summarized into “Forming women leaders in service." (Contributed by J.I.E. TEODORO)
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