Benjamin Romero Salvosa

• The Founder & Visionary of the University •

“Descend to the arenaWith the pleasant light of arts and sciences

And unbind, Youth,The heavy chain that fetters your poetic genius.”

- Dr. Jose P. Rizal(excerpt from, A la Juventud Filipina)

aving had the opportunity to provide a spark of learning among young minds

for over two decades, the Founders went further in substantiating the respect that they held for that privilege. Acting on the conviction that educating the youth of the land is a noble privilege beyond proprietary interests, the UC founders initiated a reorganization of Baguio Colleges, Inc. They

formed, in its place, a Foundation. They then donated their corporate and personal assets to the Baguio Colleges Foundation, the entity which has evolved into the University of the Cordilleras today. At that point in its institutional life, UC’s founders decided to wilfully and voluntarily, give it all back, unconditionally and without fanfare.

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izal’s lifelong crusade to empower the Filipino people inspired the founding

of the Baguio Colleges, Inc. on June 19, 1946 the anniversary of Rizal’s birth. Co-founders Benjamin Romero Salvosa, a lawyer, and his wife Evangelina Domingo

Salvosa, a registered nurse, believed that educating the youth was a privilege. The Baguio Colleges was the tangible attribute of this belief, nurtured by twin guideposts that eventually became the institution’s genetic imprint: “to serve” and “to give back.”

Rhe same ideals of altruism occasioned by the noble privilege

of providing opportunities for the youth of the land as envisioned by the UC founders, continue to spur the growth and development of the University of the Cordilleras today as it marks its 65th school year. Guided by institutional core result areas which is “to teach,”

“to research,” and “to give back,” the university’s genetic imprint of service are oriented towards uplifting the quality of life of its home community, the City of Baguio, to whom it owes much gratitude; and the Cordillera, a cradle of rich culture and traditions that the university helps to foster.

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UC at 65. A Beacon of Higher Education Beaming From These Majestic Mountain Highlands

he tyranny of global conflict, insofar as it exacts a heavy toll on the dignity of

humanity, had been the spark that ignited the drive in Benjamin Romero Salvosa to establish an institution of higher learning in Baguio City picking up from the ruins of the Second World War. He had seen education as a potent weapon against all forms of tyranny, be it oppression, ignorance, poverty, or hopelessness in the same way as our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal saw the value of education in the fight for equality during the Spanish colonial period.

As a young man of 18, Rizal addressed the Filipino youth: “Descend to the arena/ with the pleasant light of arts and sciences,/and unbind, Youth,/ the heavy chain/ that fetters your poetic genius./” Indeed, Benjamin Romero Salvosa believed in education as a way to break the shackles of want and deprivation. To him, education fosters freedom and peace because it endows humanity with the dignity that they deserve. This belief instills in him the conviction that “education is a birthright.”

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Baguio Colleges, Inc. June 19, 1946

Baguio Colleges Foundation, 1967-2002

Education for Freedom

http://www.uc-bcf.edu.ph