At the 112th General Commencement Exercises of UP Diliman (UPD), 305 students graduated summa cum laude. This is the most number of graduates who received the highest honor awarded by the University in a single class.
They led the 4,478 graduates–3,359 at the undergraduate level and 1,119 at the graduate level. Out of those who completed their undergraduate degree programs, 1,196 graduated magna cum laude (with a weighted average grade [WAG] of 1.45 or higher) and 742, cum laude (with a WAG of 1.75 or higher).
The summa cum laude graduates of the Class of 2023 had an average WAG of 1.1491. The academic distinction is bestowed upon a student who has earned a WAG of 1.20 or better.
Among the UPD’s 27 degree-granting units, the College of Engineering (COE) produced the most number of undergraduate and graduate students at 952, followed by the College of Science (CS) with 454, and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) at 348.
The CS produced the most number of graduates at the post-baccalaureate level at 142, followed by the COE at 130, then by the UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance and the UPD School of Urban and Regional Planning at 124 both.
The colleges who had the highest number of graduates who received Latin honors were the COE (584), the CSSP (259), and the CS (241).
The UPD Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business (VSB) had the highest percentage of Latin honors, with 93% of their students graduating with honors. The VSB is followed by the UPD Asian Institute of Tourism (AIT) at 90% and the CSSP at 88%.
The UPD School Library and Information Studies (SLIS) had the most number of graduates who were awarded summa cum laude, with 30% of their students graduating with the distinction. It is followed by the CSSP at 20% and the AIT at 16%.
Sixty-seven percent of the Class of 2023 graduated with honors. This is the most number of honor graduates UPD had in the last five years. In 2019, only 42% of the total graduates had honors; in 2020, only 35% and in 2021, only 33%. The number of honor graduates rose in 2022, with 57% of the total graduates having honors.
In 2019, 54 students graduated summa cum laude. The number dropped to 28 in 2020 but increased by 1 in 2021, with 29. It was in 2022 that the number of summa cum laude graduates considerably increased, with 150. And now in 2023, with 305.
Representing the Class of 2023 was Jessie Malibiran Jr., who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree (BA–MA Honors Program). Malibiran, whose message can be seen on the YouTube channel of UPD, spoke about striving for and celebrating excellence in the ordinary and everyday.
He said while towering feats of achievement are certainly commendable, real, lasting change lies with small, ordinary decisions to do better.
“The triumphant Iskolar ng Bayan is not the superlative Filipino but the ordinary Filipino. What constitutes honor and excellence is not merely extraordinary individuality but more so our ordinary humanity,” he said.
The UPD’s 112th General Commencement Exercises was held on July 30 at the University Amphitheater.