Central Philippine University

Central Philippine University

Pamantasang Sentral ng Pilipinas
File:Central Philippine University (crest).svg The Central Philippine University Seal
Latin: Universitas Centralis Philippinarum
Former names	Jaro Industrial School (1905–1923) Baptist Missionary Training School (1905–1924) Central Philippine College (1923–1953)
Motto	Scientia et Fides (Latin)
Motto in English	"Knowledge and Faith"
Type	Private Research Nonprofit and Coeducational
Established	1901 (Iloilo Mission Hospital) June 1905 (Baptist Missionary Training School) 1 October 1905 (Jaro Industrial School)
Affiliation	Protestant (Baptist) affiliated but independent and non-sectarian
President	Teodoro C. Robles (PhD, MSEE)
Students	14, 400 (2015– 2016) [Main Campus]
Location	Jaro, Iloilo City , Iloilo , Philippines
Campus	24 hectares [59.30 acres] (Urban) (Main Campus) 14 hectares [34.49 acres] (CPU Zarraga Farm/CPU Farm) 7 hectares [17.2 acres] (CPU Experimental Farm) Iloilo Mission Hospital (Medical Center)
Hymn	Central, My Central
Colors	Gold      Blue
Nickname	Golden Lions
Affiliations	ACUCA, UBCHEA, ACSCU, PAASCU, ATESEA, CPBC
Website	www.cpu.edu.ph

Central Philippine University (also referred to as Central or CPU) is a private research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. It was established in 1905 through a grant given by the American business magnate, industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller under the auspices of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, it is the first Baptist founded and second American university in the Philippines and Asia. It initially consisted of two separate schools: the Jaro Industrial School for boys and the Baptist Missionary Training School that trains ministers and other Christian workers.

In 1913, women began to be admitted to the school for boys, and in 1920 the school started offering high school education. The school for boys became a junior college and started offering college degrees in 1923 and changed its name to Central Philippine College. In 1936 the junior college became a senior college and two years after it in 1938, the Baptist Missionary Training School merged with the theology department of the college. In 1953, the college attained university status.

Central pioneered nursing education in the Philippines, when Presbyterian American missionaries established the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1906. In the same year, the CPU Republic (Central Philippine University Republic), the university's official student governing body, was organized, making it as the first established student governing body in South East Asia. Central was also the first institution to pioneer the work-study programs in the country that were later patterned and followed by other institutions.

The university's hospital, the Iloilo Mission Hospital, which was established in 1901 by the Presbyterian Americans, is the first American and Protestant founded hospital in the Philippines, predating the founding of CPU by four years.

The university is affiliated with the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches and maintains fraternal ties with the International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, known before as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, but maintains to be non-sectarian and independent.

CPU consists of fifteen schools and colleges that provides instruction in basic education all the way up to the post-graduate levels. In the undergraduate and graduate levels, its disciplines include accountancy, arts and sciences, business, computer studies, education, engineering, law, mass communication, medical laboratory sciences, medicine, pharmacy, lifestyle and fitness, tourism, nursing and theology.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED Philippines) has granted the University a full autonomous status, the same government agency that accredited some of its programs as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development , while its Civil Engineering program has been designated by the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) as Center for Civil Engineering Education.

Central is a registered National Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and certifies as one of the few ISO certified educational institutions in the Philippines by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The Board of International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches likewise on the other hand, has awarded Central a School of Excellence award. Recently, through international collaborations with other institutions, has made CPU to offer international undergraduate, graduate and doctorate extension programs in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese universities, especially the Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, the extension campus of Central in Vietnam for its overseas academic business programs.

History

Incorporation and founding

In the early 20th century when the Philippines was opened to the American Protestant missionaries prior and after the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States through the 1898 Treaty of Paris after the Spanish–American War, a comity agreement by the Protestant American churches was established that the Philippine islands will be divided into mission territories, thus the Western Visayan region went to the jurisdiction of the Baptists.

American industrialist, philanthropist, devoted Northern Baptist and founder of the Standard Oil Company, John D. Rockefeller, gave a grant to the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches), for the purpose of establishing schools that will train ministers and other Christian workers and for boys in the Philippines, a task which was given to the American missionary William Orison Valentine.

The origins of Central Philippine University dates back in 1901 when the American Northern Baptists, through its foreign mission board, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, laid a plan to establish mission schools following the comity agreement of the division of the islands for the evangelical mission and through a benevolent grant given by John D. Rockefeller, an American industrialist and philanthropist. John D. Rockefeller himself was a devoted Northern Baptist with numerous church related philanthropy works throughout his life, that is why he gave a grant to the Northern Baptists that resulted in the establishment of Central.

On the other hand, in 1901 also, four years before the founding of Central in 1905, alongside when the American Baptists came in Iloilo, the Presbyterians came and they established the Union Mission Hospital (where Central, since its founding until to this day is closely associated with) under the Presbyterian Church in America by Andrew J. Hall as the first Protestant and American hospital in the islands. The hospital was later renamed to Union Hospital and later to its present name, Iloilo Mission Hospital. Following the years since its founding, it was then transferred to the care and administration of the Baptists who also bought the land in the City of Jaro (now part and a district of Iloilo City) where the hospital now stands. The hospital predates the schools founding by four years. It also serves since then as the hospital of Central.

Then in 1903, there will be two schools that will be established by the mission: an industrial school for boys and a Bible school to train pastors and other Christian workers was incorporated. Later, it was voted on 2 December 1904 to finally establish the both schools. The task to found both schools was given to William O. Valentine, an American missionary, who became the first principal and president with the help of the other co-founders. Valentine was in the service of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, where he first ministered as a missionary in Burma, first in Rangoon, then in Mandalay, where he became the principal of the Baptist Mission High School for Boys in 1895. The new mission was given to him by the mission society in 1903. During his eighth year in Burma he suffered severe sunstroke and returned to America for treatment. There he met his future wife, nurse Ina Jane Van Allen. Valentine and Van Allen were married in 1903 and the couple left for his new appointment in Iloilo in the Philippines.

The establishment of the Baptist Missionary Training School and the Jaro Industrial School is associated with the first Baptist Church in the Philippine Islands, the Jaro Evangelical Church, which was established in 1900 by the Northern American Baptists also, now the American Baptist Churches. In June 1905, the Baptist Missionary Training School opened in the home of the Valentines, under the auspices of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society from the United States alongside with other missionaries that are considered as co-founders. There were 12 pupils with some "Bible Women" who attended as auditors.

The benevolent grant given by the industrialist and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, was used to provide the school the facilities during the school's establishment along with the industrial school (which was later established in the fall of 1905) and to purchase a 24-hectare piece of land in the City of Jaro (now a part of Iloilo City) where Central's main campus is located at present.

The Valentine Hall which was built in honor of the founding father of Central William Valentine, was used to be the administration and main school building where lectures are held of Central.

In the fall of 1905, the Jaro Industrial School was opened as a free vocational boarding school for poor boys. The first class consisted of 20 boys who worked four hours a day to pay their tuition, room and board, and spent four hours in the classroom. One of the school's innovations was the adoption of student self-government, the first in the South East Asia, known today as Central Philippine University Republic, which is modeled on American civil government. Dr. William Orison Valentine, worked for its incorporation and recognition by the Philippine Government. A year later when Jaro Industrial School was established, one of the school's innovations was the adoption of student self-government which is modeled on American civil government, the Jaro Industrial School Republic. The Republic continues to this day as the Central Philippine University Republic. It still holds the distinction as the oldest student governing body in South East Asia. The original purpose of the founding of the industrial school for boys was quoted a century later in 2005 during the centennial celebrations of the university:

"The original purpose of the school (Jaro Industrial School) was to provide opportunity for poor Filipino boys to receive a good Christian education by working their way through school. Actual work experience and earnest study of the Bible were the core of the curriculum."

Later the leadership of the Bible School was turned over to the Rev. Henry Munger, who conducted classes off campus. In 1907, Reverend William Valentine became and tenured again as head of the Jaro Industrial School. By 1907 during his term, there were 300 boys working an active farm and in various trades. All of this students were required to live on campus. In 1907 also, the Bible School split off under a separate principal, Dr. Eric Lund. Classes were held at the Mission Press building where Lund was doing his Scripture translation work.

In 1910, independent student media at the Jaro Industrial School created the first official student publication, The Hoe (the present Central Echo). It is now one of the oldest student publications in the Philippines.

File:WO Valentine.jpg

The founder and first president of Central, The Reverend William Valentine.

In 1912, Dr. Lund left the Baptist Missionary Training School and it was closed. Following that year, in 1913, Dr. Valentine's objectives were realized and in the same year the Jaro Industrial School also admitted its first female student; it was fully incorporated then by the Philippine government and enrolled 740 students. Then in 1915, Jaro Industrial School opened its first high school program, starting with first and second year classes, adding third and fourth year classes in 1920. As the both two schools were founded by the Northern American Baptists from the American Baptist Churches, ordination for women is affirmed that resulted and eventually in 1917, the Jaro Industrial School elected its first female head and Principal, Mary J. Thomas, who tenured as a Principal of the Jaro Industrial School from 1917 to 1918. The Baptist Missionary Training School later however was reopened in 1913 by Rev. Alton Bigelow. It was under Rev. Alton Bigelow's leadership that the Bible School began to have a definite direction in its development. In 1921, the following year after the Jaro Industrial School added fourth year high school classes, the school graduated its first high school batch.

The first Board of Trustees which was formed a year earlier before the founding of the two schools, is composed of five members from the mission conference which are selected by the mission conference in annual session. They remained American in composition until prior to the conversion of the Jaro Industrial School as a junior college. In the early years of the school's operation, building up qualified faculty and staff had been a great challenge. Some missionaries gave part-time service and Dr. David S. Hibbard, founder of the Silliman Institute, now Silliman University, also provided Filipino instructors who had trained at Silliman Institute.

To accommodate the need for tertiary education in the area, a junior college was opened in 1923 and the name of the school was changed to Central Philippine College. In April of the following year, the Baptist Missionary Training School became an organic part of the junior College. The senior college opened in 1936 and by 1940 five degrees were offered: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Religious Education.

When the junior college became a senior college in 1936, the College of Engineering was also established. In 1938, Baptist Missionary Training School (BMST) for women which was established independently in 1907, became part of the theology department of the college. In the same year also, students and interested sectors of the school began to press for the opening of a law school. Finally, on 18 March 1939, the Board of Trustees voted to apply for a permit to offer the first two years of the law course. It opened in the school year 1939–1940. Attorney Pablo Oro, who had been one of the leaders in urging this move and in seeking patrons to help develop the law library, was given the responsibility for developing the program. Pablo Oro, a member of the Philippine Bar, was a graduate of Silliman University and of the University of Manila College of Law.

World War II

See also: Hopevale Martyrs

Aerial view of the part of Central's main campus in the north-eastern side in the early 1960s. During the World War II, Central's entire properties, was heavily destroyed.

Academic life in the campus was interrupted when invading Japanese forces landed in Iloilo. As a consequence of the invasion, missionaries assigned at Central fled and took refuge in the mountain barrios of Katipunan, Tapaz, Capiz. They hid in the forest they called "Hopevale" with the help of their Filipino friends. But soon they fell and were captured by the Japanese troops on 19 December 1943. The missionaries begged them to free the Filipino captives and instead offered themselves as ransom. At the dawn of 20 December 1943, the missionaries asked to be allowed to pray and, an hour later, they told their Japanese captors they were ready to die. The adults were beheaded and the children were bayoneted.

The missionaries who died in the massacre are today called the Hopevale Martyrs. The martyrs are: Dr. Francis Howard Rose (former President and head of Central), Jeanie Clare Adams, Prof. James Howard Clovell, Charma Moore Clovell, Dorothy Antoinette Dowell, Signe Amelia Erikson, Dr. Frederick Willer-Meyer, Ruth Schatch Meyer, Gertrude Coombs Rose, Rev. Erle Frederich Rounds, Louise Cummings Rounds, and Erle Douglas. Despite the order that these Americans should go home because of the war, they refused to leave their mission and eventually sacrificed their lives.

Post-war years and reconstruction

Iloilo Mission Hospital (with the hospital's main hall in the 1930s) pioneered the nursing education in the Philippines when it established the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1906. Later after the World War II, the hospital and its nursing school postwar director Henry Waters pressed for the offering, with Central Philippine College (predecessor of Central Philippine University), a collegiate course leading to Bachelor of Science in Nursing that resulted to the full transfer of school's operation to Central Philippine University.

After the war ended, the college was reopened by the remaining members of the faculty and by returning missionaries. When the Second World War broke out, the college's buildings were destroyed. Reconstruction was made possible through funds from friends at home and abroad.

The college's Graduate School was formally opened in 1951 with Dr. Linnea A. Nelson as dean. Dr. Nelson, holder of an Ed.D degree from the University of California, Berkeley, had been a missionary in China from 1935 to 1949. Since its founding, the graduate school has been chosen by the fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) as a graduate center for MBA, MA in English and Master of Engineering for the following fields of specialization: civil engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.

When the war ended, Dr. Henry S. Waters, the postwar director of Iloilo Mission Hospital and also principal of the Iloilo Mission Hospital School of Nursing in 1946–1947, pressed for the offering, with Central Philippine College (the forerunner of Central Philippine University), a collegiate course leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The director of the Bureau of Private Schools and the members of the board of examiners for nurses authorized the opening of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing four-year course in 1947 that resulted the school's operation transferred to the College.

Presidents of CPU (which are all Americans) from its founding in 1905 until 1966 when Rex D. Drilon, the first Filipino president was elected.

Dr. Waters served as acting dean of the new College of Nursing at Central Philippine College (1947–1948). When he returned to the United States, Dr. Teofilo Marte served as the executive secretary (1948–1949). Loreto D. Tupaz, who finished her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at CPU, was the acting dean from 1949 to 1950 and served in this capacity until the arrival of Esther Salzman, Master of Science in Nursing and an American Baptist Foreign Mission Society missionary nurse, who held the deanship from 1950 to 1961. During her term, the college offered three curricular programs: the Bachelor of Science in Nursing four-year course, the GN-Bachelor of Science in Nursing Supplemental Course and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing five-year course.

Tupaz and Salzman worked together to develop Central Philippine College of Nursing (later the Central Philippine University College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences) into a college of distinction, recognized both in the Philippines and abroad. Salzman served as dean until 1961 when she retired in the United States. Lily Plagata, MSN, was appointed to the deanship (1961–1974). When she resigned and went abroad, she was replaced by Carmen Centeno, Master of Science, for the remaining months of 1963. Centeno, however, also left for the United States, and Loreto D. Tupaz, who finished her MA degree at CPU, resumed the deanship (1963–1970), assisted by Maria Pablico, MSN (1969–1970). Pablico also resigned to work in the United States from 1963–1973. Tupaz continued to administer the three course programs of the college, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing five-year course, the CCT (Clinical Teaching) course, and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Supplemental Course.

On 1 April 1953, the college gained government recognition and was given a university charter, converting the college into what is now known as the Central Philippine University.

Eugenio Lopez Memorial Hall in the 1960s. The structure, donated by the Spanish Filipino business magnate and philanthropist Eugenio Lopez, Sr., used to be the main library of Central and is the first permanent building on the main campus.

In July 1955, the Hon. Robert Simmons, the former Chief Justice of the Nebraska State Court, visited the campus and lectured to the students. He became very much interested in the former law school Dean Atty. Pablo Oro and the College of Law. Justice Simmons gave generous support to the law school's library and encouraged his friends and colleagues to do the same.

In 1965, Central's College of Engineering offered a one-year Sanitary engineering course with three graduates. One could only enroll in this course after completing the Civil Engineering course. However, this restriction was abolished later due to an insufficient number of enrollees. In 1956, after three years when the college received a university charter from the Philippine government, the first female President, Linnea A. Nelson, was elected.

Rex D. Drilon, the First Filipino President of Central.

On the other hand, Linnea Nelson became the first female university president, she was the person behind the establishment of the School of Graduate Studies back in 1951, where she was the first dean of the school. Nelson is an Ed.D degree holder from the University of California, Berkeley, and had been a missionary in China from 1935 to 1949. She served as the president of Central from 1956–1957 and was again re-elected in 1965–1966.

From its founding, Filipinos were gradually given larger responsibilities in its administration. In 1966 the first Filipino president, Dr. Rex D. Drilon, a CPU alumnus and a Political Scientist from the University of the Philippines Diliman, was elected. Dr. Drilon began initiatives for the Filipinization of the university, and made a trip to the United States for the purpose. The American Baptist Foreign Mission Society consented to transfer the multi-million University properties to the Filipinos in consonance with the Foreign Mission policy of "Americans receding and Filipinos advancing". Thus, in 1968 the entire university property – land, buildings, and equipment – was turned over by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society to the Filipino corporation of CPU. Since 1973, all members of the Board of Trustees and administrative officials of the university have been Filipinos.

1990s to recent history

In 1998 until 2008, the 3rd Filipino president of the university, Dr. Juanito Acanto term was dubbed as Years of Bliss: Years of Fulfillment, where academic and infrastructural developments flourished in the university, through help from the alumni. It was in his term also, when the university started a goal to raise 100 million Php and as planned, the campaign started in September 2001 until December 2005. The CPU Centennial Development Fund alone raised a total of 75,000,000 pesos from 182 Endowment programs. The helpful endeavor through other endowment fund programs, which started years back, was intensified and is still ongoing, with a total of 433 Endowment Funds, amounting to 127,500,000 pesos until May of his last year term as the university president in 2007; celebrated its centennial year in 2005, where thousands of alumni from the world came home. The university's centennial celebration and followed by the foundation day on 1 October owes a lot to the American founders and missionaries who founded and sacrificed for Central, especially to the Reverend William Valentine, the founding father of the institution.

The Dr. Alfonso A. Uy – Student Building was donated by Alfonso A. Uy, first President of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry who came from Visayas and Mindanao, is sometimes called Central's mini mall.

Iloilo Mission Hospital, the university hospital of Central in 2001, celebrated its centennial, commemorating its century of existence and its contribution since its founding in 1901 to the Philippine and American colonial history in the Philippines and in Asia as it pioneered the Nursing education in the Philippines, as the first Protestant founded hospital in the country and the second American hospital in Asia. The centennial building was inaugurated in the hospital area proper and the hospital acquisition of the Philips MX8000 CT Scan machine, the first of its kind in South East Asia

Augmented amounts from the Centennial Development Fund and the help of various individuals, was used to build and expand the various structures on the main campus, such as the Dr. Alfonso A. Uy – Student Union Building, a four-storey commercial building built through the fund and by Dr. Alfonso A. Uy (an alumnus of the University) on the campus, to help augment its operational expenses, and to further raise its financial base; CPU Lifestyle Learning Center (prior to the students and the people who wanted to manage their fitness lifestyle); and the CPU Alumni Promenade and Concert Park, which is structurally attached to the also newly built CPU Alumni Center, CPU Alumni Affairs Office, Educational Media Center (where the CPU TV Channel and Radio broadcasts still to this day) and the CPU Dining Hall, and the CPU Excel Center.

Also, in the school year 2000–2001, witnessed the birth of yet another course born into the university's Central Philippine University College of Engineering – the Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering. This has earned the College another place in Engineering History in the Philippines. It is the first engineering school in the country to offer the course. On 15 August 2001 also, Dr. Ted Robles (BSEE 1964) (the present university president) and a former Milwaukee School of Engineering professor conducted a national seminar on a digital logic software known as the Altera Max + Plus II which was attended by different engineering schools in the Philippines and hosted by the Electrical Engineering and Electronics and Communications Engineering department of Central Philippine University College of Engineering.

Aerial view of the CPU Church in which a canopy on the front of the church was added later during the 2005 centennial celebration of Central.

The College of Engineering hosted the first-ever National Congress on Civil Engineering. Then, a seminar workshop was held featuring Dr. Stephen Agunlana from Asian Institute of Technology as guest professor. This was followed by the two more Civil Engineering Seminars, this time featuring alumni, namely, Asian Institute of Technology based Engr. Henry Abiera (College Alumnus) on Geotechnical engineering, and Engr. Vicente Golveo (BSCE 1957) from the United States of America on Structural Engineering. Seminars on Instrumentation and Micro Controllers were undertaken with Dr. Teodoro Robles (College of Alumnus and present university president), also from the United States of America, as resource person.

One of the other prominent infrastructural developments during Dr. Juanito Acanto's term as a president, is the establishment of the university's own Television Channel, the CPU TV Channel. The television channel, launched in 2001 under its former names, EXCEL TV, then was changed to CPU Alumni Channel in 2005, and to CPU TV Channel, is the first university–based cable TV channel in Asia, is one big leap in upholding the university's standard in quality education through the use of mass media. There were various new real properties also that is owned by the University when he was in his term as the President. The 24 hectares San Rafael Agricultural Land and the 14 hectare Guimaras Agricultural Land

The Wall of Remembrance built before Central's centennial in 2005.

Central gained much attention and was lauded by various business and technology sectors in the field of Engineering, through its pioneer Packaging Engineering program and department in the College of Engineering, being the first such in the country and in Asia, organized and hosted the first National Conference in Transport Packaging in 2007 it was then followed also by the first Philippine International Packaging Conference, the Global Pack 2012. Thomas Schneider, President and CEO of the 51-member nation World Packaging Organization, is one of the delegates of the Global Pack 2012 event alongside with various persons from other countries, government agencies and business sector. Alongside with the Global Pack 2012 conference, a packaging engineering testing center and laboratory and value-added facility of a UN-compliant and comprehensive was donated by US Packaging Hall of Famer and Department of Science and Technology (DOST-Philippines) Balik Scientist Dr. Lejo Brana, is also the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian region, the CPU Philippine Center for Packaging Engineering and Technology (CPU-PC PET). The Center is backed by the Philippine- Department of Science and Technology, the industry's Packaging Institute of the Philippines and a private sector's packaging advocate, Systemat-PackEDGE.

The CPU Lifestyle Learning Center.

The University currently expanded its numbers of programs in business, agriculture, and medical and health sciences and the recent re-establishment of the pharmacy department. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), prior to the University as an ISO Certified Institution, recently conducted an external audit and surveillance for the University's renewal of ISO certification, based on the new standard. The University last upgraded its certification last 2010. The said University's certification, covers educational and support which is up to year 2013. Recently, through international collaborations with other institutions has made CPU to offer undergraduate programs in Business Administration and Accountancy, graduate programs in Business Administration and Public Administration, and doctorate degree in Management program at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration in Vietnam.

The university acquired also a Level IV accreditation status (the highest level of accreditation that could be given to an individual academic program in the Philippines) from Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU) in the programs of Business Administration, Accountancy and Education, among others, has made it the top university in the Western Visayan region with programs that has a said accreditation status and level. It ranks first in the Philippines in terms of tertiary academic programs with Level III level status. The university also ranks first among other universities based on Centers of Development and Excellence list in Western Visayas, where five of its programs designated by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) as Centers of Development and Center of Excellence, while Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) designated its Civil Engineering program as Center for Civil Engineering Education. Central is one of the two leaders in the Visayas and Mindanao based on endowment funding, with 182 Endowment programs and a total of 433 Endowment funds in 2007 that is still on-going and expanding still to this day.

Campus

The Central Philippine University Church, built in the 1970s, is the tallest structure on the main campus by architectural order. Its design is resonant of an Indonesian or Malayan style of house built on palm leaves and bamboo.

The CPU's main campus sits on a 24 hectare (59.30 acres) of land in the district of Jaro in Iloilo City, a laid back yet urban and away from the distraction of the bustling city center and metropolis of Iloilo, which is dubbed as the City of Love or Emerging Museum City. CPU's main campus is a veritable community by itself with more than 30 buildings and dotted by Acacia and Palm trees. The campus plan follows a typical American university and is flanked by various gates. The second gate is the main entrance and bares the University's motto, Scientia et Fides which in English means Knowledge and Faith. Central is a registered National historical landmark by the Philippine government cultural agency of National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Some buildings on the main campus dates back during the early American occupation of the Philippines and characterizes American colonial architecture. Central has been declared by the local government unit of Iloilo City as Tourist site and is the only university in the Western Visayas region recommended for tourists as a place of interest, attraction and landmark to visit by the largest travel site in the world, the Trip Advisor. Central has been also hailed as the second of all the 18 beautiful college campuses in the Philippines by an American internet media company BuzzFeed.

The Rose Memorial Auditorium, the largest theater in the Western Visayas region.

By order, the University Church is the tallest building on the main campus and meant by the planners as a "central and dominant feature" of the main campus proper. The church is notable noted for its Indonesian or Malay design and is a famous landmark in Iloilo City. Henry Luce III Library is one of the largest libraries in the Philippines with more than a quartered of a million volume holdings. Inside the Henry Luce III Library is the Meyer Asian Collection holdings of artifacts and other museum and art exhibitions.

Other buildings on the main campus campus include the famous Rose Memorial Auditorium or Rose. Rose was built to replace the old Rose Memorial Hall which was burned down by fire in 1995. The Rose Memorial Auditorium is the largest theater in Western Visayas and has been a famous venue for different international and local kinds of musical and band concerts and conventions in Iloilo. Recently, the Cultural Center of the Philippines has designated the Rose Memorial Auditorium for three-year Memorandum of Understanding, as one of the first batch of nine Cultural Center of the Philippines Regional Art Centers or Kaisa sa Sining Regional Art Centers in 2014, which is the only one in Western Visayas region.

The centennial walkway with the Weston Hall at the background.

Anna V. Johnson Hall (Johnson Hall) houses the only residential college in the university. Its residents are students of the College of Theology.

The Roblee Science Hall, serves as a laboratory building, where science and laboratory experiments classes are held by the Colleges and departments of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Pharmacy, and Chemistry (also, General subjects of other Colleges held classes in Roblee Science Hall). Valentine Hall, is a monument to Central's founder, William Valentine, a Baptist missionary. It now houses the Colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences of the university

CPU's main campus is enhanced by parks, gazebos, gardens and open spaces, including the Big Field, Half Moon, Alumni Garden, Santos Park, Nuñez Centennial Garden, Caipang Tree Park, Rex A. Drilon Millenium Park, the Glen at the Catedral, the Prayer Garden, the CPU-CAS Butterfly Garden, and the University Botanical Garden.

Flying buttresses and gable dormer windows on the south side of the CPU Church.

The main campus as a locally declared tourism site, the university maintains a team of landscapers and gardeners. Annually, the university showcases the Festival of Lights and Music at Central, a joint project of the university and the CPU Alumni Association. The event features lighted figurines, trees and buildings, nativity scenes, and colorful lanterns attracting thousands of local and foreign tourists during the Christmas season. The Opening of Lights (Festival of Lights and Music at Central) remains one of the notable features of the CPU campus. It opens in first week of December and is highlighted with a fireworks display on the opening ceremony. Lighted trees, buildings and figurines, Pampanga, Capiz shells and native lanterns placed along the major campus roads and nativity scenes add to its festive atmosphere.

The CPU Farm (in the municipality of Zarraga, Iloilo) under the Central's College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences is separate from the university's main campus, where the CPU Crop Research Laboratory and other agricultural research facilities and equipments of the college are located, while the CPU Experimental Farm in Leon, Iloilo, which is under the college also, is where the CPU Research Station for Philippine Native Chicken, the largest research station for Philippine Native Chicken in the Philippines is located. The university villages for faculties and administration members of Central, the CPU Centennial Village and CPU FA Heritage Ville Subdivision, are located also separately from the main campus which are both located in Pavia, Iloilo, north of the main campus.

Sustainability

CPU's main campus buildings are predominantly painted with eco-friendly lighter shade green color for environmental consciousness and green campus initiative plans for sustainability. The university has laid in place an Air Quality Monitoring System unit, which monitors air quality and the only unit that serves the City of Iloilo. The unit is operated jointly by the university with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The other sustainability programs of the university on the campus include a waste water treatment facility for the waste water that is emitted then will be processed to a safer level before it will be dump back to the environment by the main campus buildings. Back in 2005, the university also launched the CPU New Millennium Tree (CPU NMT) for Sustainable Development. The said program is designed to heighten environmental consciousness on the university, where it seeks to plant thousands of mahogany trees.

Academics

First female heads

Mary J. Thomas (First female head)

Linnea A. Nelson (First female president)

The Presidential House, the official residence of the university president.

Presidents and administration

Main article: List of Presidents of Central Philippine University

The incumbent and 17th president (and also the 4th Filipino president) of the University is Teodoro C. Robles. He is an alumnus of the university, where he studied engineering and graduated in 1964. If the two postwar heads Urbano F. Nequin and May A. Coggins are excluded, he is the 19th university president. Dr. Teodoro C. Robles earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering at Montana State University. It was last 5 September 2008 when the Board of Trustees unanimously elected him to be the new president and it was confirmed by the CPU Corporation in a special meeting on 18 September 2008.

CPU is administered by a twenty-member Board of Trustees. Incorporated as a non-stock and non-profit institution, Central's Board of Trustees is currently presided by a chairman and a vice-chairman.

Presidents of Central Philippine University
William Orison Valentine, 1905–1906, 1907–1914
Charles L.Maxfield, 1906–1907
Francis H. Rose, 1914–1916; 1938–1941
Henry W. Munger, 1916–1917
Mary J. Thomas, 1917–1918
Alton E. Bigelow, 1918–1922
Harland F. Stuart 1922–1938
R. Fred H. Chambers, 1941–1942
Joseph Morris R. Forbes, 1947–1950
Peter Hugh J. Lerrigo, 1950–1952
Almus O. Larsen, 1952–1956; 1957–1961
Linnea A. Nelson 1956–1957; 1965–1966
Joseph T. Howard, 1961–1965
Rex D. Drilon 1966–1971
Agustin A. Pulido 1971–1996
Juanito M. Acanto 1996–2008
Teodoro C. Robles 2008–present
References

The present director of Iloilo Mission Hospital is also a member of the board of trustees while eight of its members are from the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches. Of the twenty Board of Trustees members, the General Secretary of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches sits as an ex-officio member. The CPU Alumni Association, the Faculty, and the Staff are likewise represented in the Board. The President of the university's student government, the CPU Republic, sits as representative of the students.

Rankings

The University ranks No. 1 in the Western Visayas region and No. 5 in the whole country in terms of high passing rates in various licensure examinations given by the Professional Regulation Commission. But later than that, in 2007, a report by PRC and CHED covering a five-year period (1994–1998) named the top 10 performing schools in the country based on PRC exams and Central Philippine University ranks number 8th. CPU holds the distinction as No. 1 in the Philippines in the number of tertiary academic programs accredited Level III by the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines. In engineering, the College of Engineering ranks 10th of 25 Top Engineering Schools in the Philippines. Based also on that is the demonstration of the highest degree or level of standards along the areas of instruction, research and extension.

In 2009, the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines released a report showing the Top 20 nursing schools in country based on average passing rates in nursing board examinations. Central ranks 6th having an average of 86.72.

Data released by Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) of top Universities based on Center of Excellence and Center of Development (as of 4 October 2010) for engineering courses, CPU ranks 10th of 25 Top Engineering Schools. Based on that data also is demonstration of the highest degree or level of standards along the areas of instruction, research and extension. Also, based on Professional Regulation Commission (Philippines) board exam passing rates, the university's College of Engineering was listed and ranks 9th in the Philippines.

4 International Colleges & Universities (4ICU) has ranked Central 21st among 217 universities in the Philippines. 4ICU is the official web portal of international colleges and universities, an international higher education search engine and directory which reviews over 11,000 Colleges and Universities in 200 countries around the globe. Tertiary Education Schools should be duly recognized, licensed and accredited by national ministries of education or higher education accrediting organizations before they qualify and get listed to 4ICU.org. Furthermore, the organization maintains and religiously updates the profiles of the schools included in their list to protect the quality of the information contained in its directory. 4ICU.org is a non-academic ranking body and thus it is not used to measure the academic standards of the organization. It aims to help international students know which university or college is popular in a specific country based on the popularity of their websites, which be could used as reference in selecting a higher education organization.

Accreditation and Designations

New Valentine Hall of the College of Business and Accountancy.

In aspect of academic and non-academic designations, Central has been designated by various local, national, international and government agencies like its College of Engineering being designated by the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) as the only engineering School for Western Visayas while the College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental as Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) - National Agriculture and Fisheries Education System (CHED-NAFES) Provincial Institute of Agriculture for Iloilo province and Panay island. The basic education department of High School is also designated as the sole Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) - Engineering and Science Education Program (DOST-ESEP) Division Leader School for Western Visayas region and likewise it is one of the 15 Network High Schools in the Philippines.

The Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) has also granted the university a full autonomy status (one of the few in the Philippines) and it is one of the few International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified institutions in the country in which its academic programs, instruction, research and extension programs, and facilities are in accordance with or of international standards.

The Roblee Science Hall where general sciences classes of medical and allied health courses are conducted.

Central has been accredited by various accreditation agencies like the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU) where it is a founding member also, the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), and the Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia (ACUCA), while the Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA) solely for the university's College of Theology

In terms of accreditation status, the university ranks first in Western Visayas and third in the Philippines, with 15 of its programs designated as Level IV (the highest level of accreditation in the Philippines that can be granted to an individual program) in the programs of Accountancy, Business Administration, Social ScienceSs, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Education.

Central has also designated by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) as Centers of Excellence in Agricultural Education and Business Administration and Centers of Development in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Teacher Education, where the university ranks first in the Western Visayas region (4th in the whole Visayas) in terms of the said number of designations.

The Civil Engineering likewise on the other hand has also been designated by the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) as Center for Civil Engineering Education for Western Visayas.

Academic units

The Engineering Building was built through James Lester Knox, the former dean of the College of Engineering. Part of the structure is the CPU Affiliated Renewable Energy Center and laboratories of all the undergraduate engineering programs including the pioneer programs of Software Engineering and Packaging Engineering (both firsts in the country).

The Loreto D. Tupaz Hall of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences was built in honor of Loreto D. Tupaz, the one who pioneered the modern nursing and is considered as the Florence Nightingale of the Philippines.

The Anna V. Johnson Hall (Johnson Hall) of the College of Theology houses the dormitory facility of the said college and where some lectures of the university's (and the college) department of religion and ethics are held.

Central's academic bodies consist three graduate or Professional schools, nine undergraduate colleges, the CPU Review and Continuing Education Center (a review and continuing education center), and 3 basic education schools. Central contains also a library system, Central Philippine University Press (CPU Press), three basic education schools, while the university's medical centers are located separately from the university.

Central is one of the two leaders in the Visayas and Mindanao based on endowment fund with current endowment between Php 150–200 million, which is specifically for research, academic and other purposes. The university has more than 182 Endowment programs and with a total of 433 Endowment Funds that is still on-going.

Central Philippine University is one of few private higher educational institutions in the Philippines that have been granted full autonomous status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the same government agency that accredited some of its programs as Centers of Development. It is also one out of few ISO certified educational institutions in the Philippines. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a network of the national standards institutes of 153 countries, on the basis of one member per country. The Bureau of Product Standards has been the Philippines representative to ISO, of which the said institute, has accredited the university as an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified institution.

The University academic programs operate on a semester system in which the academic year is divided into three terms (Including Summer [March or April–May]): June to October, and November to December, December to March. The school year typically begins in early June and ends in mid-March. However, the two basic education schools of the university: Elementary School and High School, runs on a non-semester system, but has a summer term classes, offered by each basic education schools.

Presently, the university confers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees all accredited by either PAASCU (a member of FAAP), ACSCU-AAI, ACSC-AAI, ATESEA and assisted by EDPITAF in its 13 schools and colleges.

Undergraduate

The university grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in more than 30 academic majors and including minors, in nine undergraduate Colleges. Programs offered in the undergraduate level are Liberal Arts and Science, Hospitality Management, Tourism, Theology, Engineering, Business and Accountancy, Information Technology, Pharmacy, Medical Technology, Mass Communications, Public Administration and Political Science, Nursing, Teaching Education, Multimedia and Advertising, Rehabilitative sciences, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

The College of Theology, founded four months before the formal founding of Central's precursor, the Jaro Industrial School in October 1905, is the oldest degree-granting unit of the university. The College of Theology was later merged in 1924, a year after the Jaro Industrial School became a junior college in 1923. The Dr. Lucio C. Tan College of Hospitality Management is the latest addition to all the undergraduate and graduate academic units of Central. The Engineering and Business and Accountancy programs are Commission on Higher Education (CHED Philippines) Centers of Excellence and Development.

Central ranks first among other universities in Western Visayas in Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) Centers of Development and Centers of Excellence List with five of the university programs designated by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) as Centers of Development and Excellence. The College of Business and Accountancy is the only business school in the Western Visayas region that has been designated by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) as Center of Excellence in Business Administration program (the only Business school with Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) Center of excellence designation in the region). It is also the only business school with a Level IV (the highest level of accredition for a program in the Philippines) accredited programs in Panay.

The university also, through its College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences has been designated recently as Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) Center of Excellence in Agricultural Education.

The College of Engineering also ranks first among other engineering schools in the Western Visayas region based on licensure examinations and the only engineering with Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) Center of Development programs designation. It has been chosen by the Educational Development Projects Implementing Task Force (EDPITAF) as one of the ten resource-based schools of engineering in the country. The college also is one of the Priority Engineering Schools in Panay, a Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) (DOST) School, Center for Civil Engineering Education, and Heat Treatment Facility for Western Visayas.

Recently, through international collaborations with other institutions in different countries has made CPU to offer like undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Accountancy programs especially at the Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration in Vietnam.

Graduate

The Eugenio Lopez Memorial Hall (Eugenio Lopez Hall) of the College of Law.

Central offers a variety of doctorate and masters degrees in the Social Sciences, Business, Education, Information Technology, English Studies & Communication, Liberal Studies, Nursing, Psychology/Counseling, Agriculture, Engineering, Divinity, Medicine, Law.

Central Philippine University College of Medicine Anatomy Building.

The graduate Academic programs are offered in the School of Graduate Studies; Medicine, the university's College of Medicine was established in 2003, is the youngest college and professional school of the university; College of Law confers the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree, which was changed to Juris Doctor (JD) degree in 2012 in lieu of it.

The Juris Doctor (JD) program of the College of Law is the first Juris Doctor (JD) program in any Law schools in the Philippines approved by the Philippine Legal Education Board. The College of Law in through partnership with San Beda College of Law offers Master of Laws (LL.M. ) also

At present, CPU through international linkage with Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration in Vietnam offers graduate programs in Business Administration and Public Administration, and doctorate program in Management.

Basic education

Central offers basic academic programs: Kindergarten, Complete Elementary Course and Academic Secondary Course. The university's two basic education departments, the Kindergarten and Elementary are both accredited by ACSCU-AAI as Level II while the High School as Level III. The high school department of the university, except that it is Accredited by ACSCU-AAI as Level III, it is the only EDPITAF-assisted and DOST/ESEP Division Leader School by the Department of Science and Technology for Western Visayas. The High School was also chosen as one of the few 15 Network High Schools in the Philippines

Library system

Main article: Central Philippine University Library

The Henry Luce III Library, the main library that encompasses the Central Philippine University Library System. The library is the largest library in the Western Visayas region (one of the largest libraries in the Philippines). It was donated and named after Henry Luce III, the elder son of the editor-in-chief and founder of Time Inc., Henry Luce.

Central's main library, the Henry Luce III Library encompasses the university's library system, which is composed of departmental and college libraries of Theology, Business and Law, Graduate Studies, High School and the Elementary school. Currently, the Henry Luce III Library holds more than 200,000+ volumes including holdings of special collections like the 40,000 United Nations Documents, World War II Documents, American Studies Resource Center, Meyer-Asian Collection, Food and Agriculture Organization and Elizabeth Knox Sacred Music Collection. At present, the Central Philippine University Library is the biggest library in Western Visayas (one of the largest in the Philippines) in terms of volumes and holdings.

The Henry Luce III Library's (main library) structure was built by virtue of a grant given by Henry Luce III, a known philanthropist, and elder son of the founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., through the Henry Luce Foundation. It has been designated by the Philippine National Statistics Office on 20 April 1997 as National Statistics Office (NSO) Information Center for Western Visayan region. Consortium with the Silliman University library and the Trinity University of Asia through ACCORD Library Interconnection started in 2000. CPU Library's formal linkage in December 2002 was started with LIBRARY LINK, based at the Filipinas Heritage Library (in Makati City), on Filipiniana materials.

Through linkages, Central Philippine University Library is a depository of the United Nations and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The library is a regular recipient of library materials from international and local organizations and centers such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Population Council in New York, National Library of the Philippines in Manila, Australian Centre for Publication Acquired for Development (ACPAD), Population Information Network, and the International Rice Research Institute (in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines). Through the library system's American Studies Resource Center (ASRC), the only for Western Visayas and one of the few in the Philippines, which is located in the main library (Henry Luce III Library), is also a regular recipient from the: Thomas Jefferson Information Center (where the library has the said and one of the only 13 such centers in the Philippines) in Manila, and the United States Information Service. The American Studies Resource Center (ASRC) helps/assists students who want to study in the United States through its Educational Advising Program. A Knowledge for Development Center, donated by the World Bank in consortium with the University was launched in 2008 The CPU World Bank – Knowledge for Development Center is one of the few such centers which are hubs for dialogue and research on development issues established by the World Bank in key cities around the country in partnership with leading state and private universities. The main library is also the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) repository for Western Visayas.

Medical centers

Iloilo Mission Hospital Medical Arts Building which was completed in 2009.

Iloilo Mission Hospital serves as the University hospital of Central. The hospital is separate and distinct in identity and operates independently from the university with its own board of directors and trustees largely composed by personnels solely from the university. Although serving as community hospital in general, Iloilo Mission Hospital serves as a training, teaching and as a laboratory facility for various medical-related internship; off-campus classes programs of the University colleges and departments of Nursing, Medicine, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Pharmacy and other allied health sciences, while the College of Theology (for its chaplaincy program); and supports the whole medical needs of the whole university.

Iloilo Mission Hospital perspective view from the IMH Medical Arts Building with the Main Hall at the foreground and the Centennial Building at the far right.

There is also the CPU Birthing Center located on the main campus that operates with attending physicians from Iloilo Mission Hospital. The CPU Birthing Center was built to serve the surrounding community exclusively for laboring women. Central Philippine University also through its College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences maintains a linkage with the Capiz Emmanuel Hospital in Roxas City, Capiz. The hospital was founded by Baptist American missionaries in 1913 which serves at present as the university hospital of the Filamer Christian University.

Iloilo Mission Hospital, is a 230 bed hospital, located separately from the main campus of the university, with various and comprehensive services available to the university's students and to the community in general, was established in 1901 by Mrs. Andrew J. Hall, missionaries of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board to serve as a venue for the treatment of health care to the very poor, and has the distinction today as the first Protestant hospital in the country and the second American hospital in Asia.

The hospital had moved many times, from its first and second locations in the City Center of Iloilo in 1901 and 1905, and the third site in Jaro District, where the hospital stands until today, was purchased with the help of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the local community, because more space was needed for the expansion of the hospital, and in 1931, the new building was completed.

The hospital pioneered in its School of Nursing in training women for the professional Nursing in the Philippines, which was established in 1906, with three graduates considered as the first three pioneering nurses in the country. Recent expansion of the hospital includes a 4-storey modern (IMH) Iloilo Mission Hospital Medical Arts Building and the proposed 7-storey glass design Iloilo Mission Hospital Medical Center (IMH Medical Center) with state-of-the-art facilities.

Research and extension

College of Engineering has various established research and auxiliary facilities and programs under its umbrella where their establishment was made possible alongside with their funding through the university collaborations with various private and public sectors and institutions and it includes: the CPU-Affiliated Renewable Energy Center (CPU-AREC) (established in 1989 that covers the whole Western Visayas region is jointly funded by the Department of Energy (Philippines) and the university) and the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) Heat Transfer Facility for the Western Visayas region. The university collaborates since 2012 also with the De la Salle University through the college in the fields of Structural engineering and Transportation research.

The university, has an active research and extension program that cover various researchers and extension activities. Central collaborates since then with various national and local government agencies, non-profit organizations, international and local industries and institutions for research in different fields. The University annually holds a Research and Development Week. In 2006, the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) (CHED) awarded CPU Research Center research program as one of the 2006 Best Higher Education Institution (HEI) Research Program in the country and the lone awardee from Region 6. In 2011 also, the university received the Best Higher Education Institution Research Program Award and a Plaque of Recognition as 1st Regional Qualifier for Best Higher Education Institution Research Program (BHEIRP) by the said Philippine government agency for higher education, the Commission on Higher Education. The University is also identified and designated by Commission on Higher Education-National Agriculture and Fisheries Education System (CHED-NAFES) through its College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences as the Iloilo-Provincial Institute for Agriculture, where being the host of the annual Regional CPU-Department of Agriculture (Philippines) Agri Research Fair and Exhibits.

The CPU Philippine Center for Packaging Engineering and Technology (PC-PET) is the first of its kind in the South East Asian Region. The center is a combination of the College of Engineering's Packaging Engineering department and the facilities of the Packaging Testing Laboratory and the Packaging Technology Resource Center (PTRC). It is backed by the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) and the Packaging Institute of the Philippines.

Originally the CPU Research Center lodged as an integral part of the CPU Outreach Center. In 1998, it was separated with the CPU Outreach Center. It was established to coordinate the research activities of the different colleges and units of the university and to convene and facilitate the affairs of the University Research Committee (URESCOM). Since its inception in 1998, CPU Research Center was able to enhance the competency of students, faculty and staff members in conducting research and in applying and disseminating information and findings for the benefit of its constituency and the community. The university's Institutional Research Program (IRP), through the CPU Research Center, which provides undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff with research opportunities for personal and intellectual growth yielded 119 bounded research reports, 53 ongoing institutional researches, and more than 100 faculty and staff were involved in research projects in 2005–2008, and still expanding to this day. The capability building programs that were regularly conducted increased faculty involvement in research. One major indication that the CPU Research Center and CPU links with the industry and business sector has grown stronger was the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the CPU Research Center (URC) and the Iloilo Chamber of Commerce in 2003. The agreement was about CPU Research Center's role as the sole consultant, researcher or trainer for the Iloilo Chamber of Commerce.

In 2008, Rolex Award for Enterprise awarded the university alumni, professor, inventor and agricultural engineer Alexis Belonio due to his creation of a low-cost and environment friendly invention of the rice husk stove. Engr. Belonio is the first Filipino awardee of Rolex Award for Enterprise that has resulted the establishment of the Center for Rice Husk Energy Technology (CRHET) (Iloilo Rice Husk Center) at Central. The research center is attached to the College of Resources and Environmental Sciences and since it was established, it focuses on various technologies that will be developed and the utilization of rice husks as fuel and clean energy for cooking. The CPU Center for Rice Husk Energy Technology (CRHET) obtained funding from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2008.

The Dr. Lenwood Edge Building houses the College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences. It has been designated by Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) National Agriculture and Fisheries Education System (NAFES) as Provincial Institute of Agriculture. The college has various attached research and extension centers and laboratories under its hood like the CPU Appropriate Technology Center, CPU Center for Rice Husk Energy Technology (CPU-CRHET) and the Research Station for Philippine Native Chicken (the largest in the Philippines) that has endeavored various research studies, inventions and experiments, where some of its researchers and faculties has been awarded with international and local awards and distinctions.

CPU is also the Department of Energy (Philippines) Affiliated Renewable Energy Center (CPU-AREC) for Western Visayas. The center is one of the most active among the 14 such in the whole Philippines and is funded by the Philippine Department of Energy and the university where it aims to provide research, extension, education for renewable energy with outreach programs and projects to electrify isolated and non-isolated places in Western Visayas region. The University also has a Rockefeller Endowed Soils Analysis and Testing Laboratory. The university is also the sole Philippine Department of Science and Technology (Philippines) heat transfer facility for Western Visayas and collaborates since 2012 with De la Salle University in the fields of transportation and structural engineering research through the Central Philippine University College of Engineering.

Through the College of Engineering also, the CPU Philippine Center for Packaging Engineering (CPU PC-PET), a packaging testing center and laboratory facility which is the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian region was established in 2012, in which Central gain attention in the fields of science and technology and breakthrough for Packaging Engineering research and development in the country and South East Asia. The Center is backed by the Department of Science and Technology, the Packaging Institute of the Philippines and a private sector's packaging advocate, Systemat-PackEDGE.

As the Western Visayas region is the leading producer of Native Chickens in 2011 in the Philippines, the university's created a partnership with the Philippine Department of Agriculture along with its College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences for the research and development of Philippine Native Chicken in the country through the establishment of the CPU Research Station for Philippine Native Chicken. The research facility or center is the largest research station for Philippine Native Chicken in the Philippines, it is located separately from the main campus and occupies the entire 7 hectare CPU Experimental Farm in the town of Leon, Iloilo. The center is facilitated by the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) and funded by the said government agency (Department of Agriculture) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD. The endeavor of the research and development of the Philippine Native Chicken through the CPU-CARES Research Station for Philippine Native Chicken made Dr. Jaime Cabarles, the CPU College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences dean and head of the research facility the 2014 Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) Republica Award National Winner in Natural Sciences and Agriculture category, due to his significant contribution as researcher (Research and Development of Philippine Native Chicken) to Natural Sciences and Agricultural research in the Philippine society.

Other research and auxiliary centers and extension programs of the University include the CPU Center for Local Governance and Indigenous Peoples Studies; CPU-World Bank Knowledge Development Center (CPU WB-KDC); CPU Appropriate Technology Center (CPU-APPROTECH); CPU Crop Research Laboratory; and the CPU – Social Science Research Institute.

Cultures and traditions

Jesus Christ's ascension is depicted on the stained glass window art at the top of the altar of Central Philippine University Church is contrast to the university's mission, vision and its foundation since then by the early American missionaries. Although Central is affiliated with a church at present, the university maintains to be non-sectarian and liberal.

Central Spirit

"Central Spirit" which has purportedly served as "a social glue", is a term for camaraderie, unity or reminisce the fond school day memories and activities at Central that has become symbolic of the bond that unites Centralians. Central Spirit is also contrast to what Central was founded for over a century before by the American missionaries and the school's vision. Moreover, there is also a song titled "Central Spirit" which was composed by one of the school's former American presidents, Dr. Francis H. Rose.

Scientia et Fides

Central's motto: Scientia et Fides literally means Knowledge and Faith in English. It was chosen by the third head of Central, the late American clergyman Dr. Francis H(oward) Rose, as contrast and coincides to the institution's Christian foundation and belief, which was founded by the pioneer, The Rev. William Orison Valentine.

The main gate or second gate of Central which bares the university Latin motto: "Scientia et Fides" (Knowledge and Faith)

Scientia Science is viewed from the standpoint of Christian understanding that God is the creator and sustainer of everything. Science is an avenue where one would know, understand, and appreciate the scope of God's handiwork as well as explore the magnitude of its potentials for the good of mankind.

Fides Faith is basically a gift from God. And as a gift, the exercise of such faith will find meaning and purpose within the sphere of God's sovereign plan and direction. In this regard, such kind of faith becomes active and dynamic. It inspires, influences, and transforms anything that comes in contact with as it continually seeks understanding and expresses itself in noble actions that aim to glorify God.

Gold and blue

Gold and Blue, the official and traditional colors of Central.

Gold and blue are both official and athletic colors of Central since it became a Junior College in the early 1920s. Gold regards to its "Scientia" motto as "Excellence" and contrast to the Biblical standpoint alongside with blue for "Spirituality" (from its "Fides" motto) when chosen as the official colors of Central in the 1920s. Both reference Biblical texts from the books and chapters of 1 Corinthians 3:12–13 and Ephesians 2:20 (for gold) and Numbers 4:6–7, 9,11, 12; 15:38–40 and Exodus 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36; 28:28, 31 (for blue).

Festival of Lights and Music at Central

A month long-fete festival of lights and music which is an attraction every December for the Christmas season in the City of Iloilo that has become a tradition for more than a decade at Central, is held annually since 1998. The main campus major streets and buildings are festooned with Christmas lights during the festival and is flocked by visitors or tourists. The festival, starts traditionally in the first week of December, where at the opening night, a traditional switching on of Christmas lights is followed by a grand fireworks display. On the second night after the opening, A Christmas musicale and a signing contest opens with contestants not only from the university but from the surrounding community.

University Day and Foundation Day

In 2015, for more than years that the University Day festivity was been celebrated in August until September, it was moved and combined with the Foundation day that starts from September and ends in the first week of October. The festivity characterized with intramural games between colleges and schools that starts in September, the annual famous Mr. and Ms. CPU pageant, a university picnic and concerts at the Promenade (Alumni Promenade and Concert Park). At the last days of the celebration is the Foundation day which is held every 1 October where the university commemorates its founding by the American missionaries as the Bible School and Jaro Industrial School, Central's two forerunner schools in 1905. The commemoration characterized also with a civic parade, a memorial service for the founding father of Central William Valentine and his co-founders, the traditional singing of the Star Spangled Banner along with the raising of the flag of the United States and the Philippines.

Athletics

The CPU Gymnasium (Gold and Blue Gym), the official home of Central's athletic team, the CPU Golden Lions.

The logo of the CPU Golden Lions, the official athletics of Central.

Central is member of the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) and the Philippine University Games (UniGames). The university's athletic nickname, Golden Lions represents the university in athletic games. Central has adequate playgrounds and facilities for sports and athletic activities.

The CPU Gymnasium (Central Philippine University Gymnasium) or Gold and Blue Gym, is the largest university and athletic gymnasium in Western Visayas and can serve as a venue for the following sports: basketball, sepak takraw, badminton, table tennis, lawn tennis, and volleyball. CPU Gymnasium has also can host musical, live and band concerts. The CPU Gymnasium been the official home of the official athletics team of Central, the CPU Golden Lions. Outdoor sports such as soccer and softball can be played at the football grounds, CPU Softball Field and the ground situated at the Half-moon Drive.

The University hosted the 14th Philippine University Games (UniGames). There is also an Olympic size CPU swimming pool for swimming competitions. The University main campus can accommodate Triathlon sports event. The University Tennis Courts is also available for use by students and tennis enthusiasts. CPU's Olympic-sized swimming pool is the most modern and biggest school-based pool in Western Visayas. It provides a very convenient swimming area for PE students, athletes, alumni and friends of CPU. Central Philippine University is famed for its football games.

CPU International Football Team vs. Philippine Football Federation (AZKALS) Friendly match in 2010 held in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.

The CPU International Football Team, composed of foreign students who are studying at Central matched with the Philippine Football Federation team (Azkals) in 2010 in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. Most football players of Central are under the roster of Stallion F.C., a club that plays for the United Football League (UFL) and is also affiliated with Iloilo F.A. (IFA). CPU also hosted the PFF Smart Club Championship-Group B on 9–13 August 2011 which was facilitated by Iloilo Football Association wherein the university is one of the hosts venue.

In April 2012, the Western Visayas (PRISAA) Private Schools Athletic Association – Softball team, composed wholly and represented by Central's Softball team, defeated the regional teams including the last contingent (Region 10) and wins second time since 2011 with the Gold medal in the 59th National PRISAA Championship. The 59th National PRISAA was held in Cebu City in 2012.

Student life

The Stuart Hall, named after the late President of the University, Harland F. Stuart, houses the Student Service Enterprise at the ground floor and the CPU Republic at the top floor.

Student organizations

Students are encouraged to form groups that enhance their desire for study. The Student Organization Committee (SOC) acts as the regulatory body for all student campus organizations. It approves the registration and supervises the activities of student campus organizations. These include religious and cultural groups, academic and athletic clubs and groups. Notable organizations are: Central Philippine University Republic (CPU Republic), official student governing body of the university (still in continuous operation); CPU Parliamentarian Society; the Central Echo; CPU Bahandi Singers; CPU Handbell Choir (the first and only 5-octave handbell choir in the country); and CPU Mountaineering Society. There is also a Foreign Students' Organization that assists the university to invite more foreign students to attend Central.

Fraternities and sororities

There are more than 10 fraternities and six sororities that are local, international or founded in the university that maintains a chapters at Central, as well as fraternity for those who are taking Juris Doctor (J.D.) course, Order of Kalantiao, and Phi Beta Epsilon of the College of Engineering.

Student and faculty housing

Weston Hall (Women's Dormitory).

Various apartment facilities, such as dormitories, boarding homes are located on the university's main campus and the university hospital, the Iloilo Mission Hospital which, could provide living accommodations to students. Franklin Hall, is for male residents; Weston Hall, for female residents; while Anna V. Johnson Hall, where the College of Theology houses, is considered as the only residential college in the university, where its living accommodation is limited to the said college; Roselund Hostel/House, Gonzaga House, and Executive House are apartments and boarders are both local and foreign students who are studying at Central; are all located on the main campus, and there is also Nurses home in each hospitals of the university, that serves as a boarding house for students who are taking Nursing course, when classes and internship is conducted at the both two university hospitals. American Village is located inside the campus with various houses for the university faculties and a hostel for students.

Franklin Hall (a male residence dormitory.)

There are also two residential villages located separately from the University. The CPU Centennial Village, a 2.9-hectare subdivision only for the faculty members of the university. The CPU Centennial Village has 185 saleable units with 6 types of housing models and CPU FA Heritage Ville Subdivision/CPU Heritage Subdivision is located and adjacent, just few meters away from the location of CPU Centennial Village in Anilao, Pavia, Iloilo. It provides residential community amenities for the faculty and administrative staff of the university.

The Gonzaga House.

Living in the dormitories and villages is considered a privilege that is granted to the students and faculties who comply with the rules and regulations of the University. Formal admission procedures is followed before admitting anyone to the dormitories and villages of the university.

Publications

The Central Echo (CE) is the official student publication of CPU. It was founded in 1910, five years after Jaro Industrial School opened. Established originally as The Hoe, The Central Echo evolved to be one of the best college student publications in the Western Visayas region: It has been recognized as Second Best Magazine and Fifth Best Newspaper by the Philippine Information Agency-Region 6 in 2009. Central Echo publishes and circulates newspaper twice in a regular semester, it publishes magazine also, an art portfolio (Paraw) and a summer literary folio every summer. Other publications of the university include the The Centralite, the official yearbook; The Central Post, the official publication of the office of the university president; and the Central High Echo, the official publication of the High School Department.

Every college in the university has its own publication. Some of the student writers are associate members of the Iloilo Press Club and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines.

Notable people

Main article: List of Central Philippine University people

People associated or affiliated such as students, faculty members, administrators, or other people with Central are called Centralians and the university maintains an alumni association with various chapters throughout the country and the whole world in different countries. Notable people of the university include:

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  John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist and philanthropist.

• PerfectoYasay Portrait.JPG

  Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr., former SEC chairman of the Philippines.

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  Franklin Drilon, Filipino politician (senator) and present Senate President of the Senate of the Philippines.

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  Claro M. Recto, Filipino politician, jurist and poet.

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  Alexander Pama, Vice-Admiral of the Philippine Navy and Undersecretary of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) of the Philippines.

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  Alfonso A. Uy, Chinese-Filipino businessman and first President of Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry who came from the Visayas and Mindanao.

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  Alexis Belonio, Filipino inventor, scientist, engineer and first Filipino Rolex Awards for Enterprise awardee.

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  Felipe Landa Jocano, first and foremost Filipino anthropologist.

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  Ramona Palabrica-Go, first woman army general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

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  Peter Irving Corvera, Undersecretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (Philippines).

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  Leonor Orosa-Goquingco, first Filipina and the only dancer sent on the first-ever cultural mission to Japan (1939) and the first Philippine folkloric ballerina or ballet dancer.

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  Jose V. Aguilar, first recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asian equivalent of Nobel Prize) and also first awardee of the said award (Ramon Magsaysay Award) for Government Service category.

• John D. Rockefeller – American business magnate and philanthropist who founded the Standard Oil Company (which dominated the oil industry and the first great business trust in the United States), the Rockefeller Foundation, and the one who gave a grant in 1901 to the Northern Baptist Churches to establish Central. He is also considered as the richest person in US history
• Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. – former SEC chairman of the Philippines (1995–2000) and 2010 Philippine Vice-Presidential candidate. He was the first public official who stood up against a President of the Philippines on the issue of corruption and abuse of power and EDSA People Freedom Awardee.
• Franklin Drilon – Filipino politician from Iloilo who serves as the President of the Senate of the Philippines at present.
• Calixto Zaldivar - former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. But later than that he also became a Congressman, Governor of Antique province and executive secretary of the President of the Philippines.
• Claro M. Recto – former Filipino senator.
• Peter Irving C. Corvera – Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Philippines Undersecretary for Public Safety.
• Lucio C. Tan – Chinese Filipino business tycoon.
• Alfonso A. Uy – Chinese-Filipino businessman, former and first President of Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry who came from the Visayas and Mindanao. He is also a recipient and awardee of the Dr. Jose Rizal Award for Excellence in Business and Commerce.
• Felipe Landa Jocano – historian and dubbed as the first and foremost Filipino Anthropologist.
• Alexis Belonio – Filipino inventor, engineer, scientist and the first Filipino Rolex Award for Enterprise awardee. He was included also by the Rolex watchmaking company on its list of 10 model innovators in November 2008. He is also one of the first seven modern day Filipino heroes awardees and recipient of the first ever Yahoo! Philippines Pitong Pinoy Awards in 2011 and part of the 25 Heroes for Better during the 25th anniversary of the Western Union Philippines
• Leonor Orosa-Goquingco – Philippine National Artist in creative dance, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics. She was the first Filipina and the only dancer sent on the first-ever cultural mission to Japan (1939) and the first Philippine folkloric ballerina or ballet dancer.
• Jose V. Aguilar – The first recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asian equivalent of Nobel Prize) and also first awardee of the said award (Ramon Magsaysay Award) for Government Service category for his work as the "Father of the Community School Movement". He served also as a consultant on Elementary education and later to the UNESCO Consultative Mission to the Philippines.
• Otoniel Gonzaga - Internationally known music virtuoso and tenor singer.
• Rosendo Mejica – renowned Ilonggo and Visayan journalist, educator, and labor leader who is considered as the Dean of Visayan Journalists and also established the longest Ilonggo existing newspaper in 1913, the Hiligaynon.
• Rene C(artera) Villa – former acting chairman of Local Water Utilities Administration of the Philippines.
• Nicasia Cada, Dorotea Caldito and Felipa De la Pena (Gumabong) – Considered as the first three graduate nurses (who graduated from a nursing school) in the Philippines from Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses (Now Central Philippine University College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences), the oldest Nursing school in the Philippines.
• Pedro E.Y. Rio – The first Filipino Doctor of Education degree holder.
• Nielex Tupas - Public Servant, Politician and Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of the National Youth Commission of the Philippines.
• Danny Fajardo – the President and owner of the Philippine renowned and leading newspaper Panay News.
• Alexander Pama - Retired Vice-Admiral of the Philippine Navy and Undersecretary of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) of the Philippines.
• Hector Tarrazona – former colonel of the Philippine Air Force, founding member of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, 2010 senatorial candidate under Ang Kapatiran Party, and consultant/chief of the Airmen Examination Board at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
• Ezra James Enriquez - former Chief of Staff of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) during the Golan Heights standoff in Middle East.
• Custodio Parcon Jr. – Philippine Navy Lieutenant Colonel and one of less than 20 graduates of the Philippine Military Academy to have awarded the prestigious Philippine Medal of Valor by the President of the Philippines.
• Loreto D. Tupaz – considered as the pioneer and pillar of the nursing profession in the Philippines. She is also considered as the Florence Nightingale of the Philippines.
• Elvegia Ruiz Mendoza – first woman Nurse General and Brigadier of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Florence Nightingale Awardee from the International Red Cross.
• Spicy Morena Louise Aurelio Vail – former Filipina woman beauty pageant and the first Binibining Pilipinas winner to place as a semi-finalist (top 15) in the Miss Universe pageant in 1965. (she is also included in the magic five of the said pageant (Miss Universe) in the said year also (1965)).
• Ramona Palabrica Go – Brigade General and the Philippines first female army general in the history of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
• Lejo Braña – first Filipino Certified Professional in Packaging and the first Filipino and Asian to receive a prestigious award in the packaging community in the United States and worldwide in his election to the US Packaging Hall of Fame.
• Jovelyn Gonzaga – Filipina volleyball athlete; member and team captain of Philippines women's national volleyball team team who battled during the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. She is also a member of the Philippine Army Lady Troopers and plays as an opposite hitter. She was named in 2013 as the Shakey's V-League Open Conference Most Valuable Player.
• Maria Daziella Gange - Filipina beauty pageant, second winner of the Miss Filipinas Heritage and the second representative of the Philippines to the international pageant search Miss Heritage. She is also hailed as the first winner of the Miss Filipinas Heritage who came from Visayas and Mindanao.
• Gilopez Kabayao – renowned musician (international violin virtuoso); patriarch and member of the musical family, The Kabayaos in the Philippines; and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.
• Glenn Catedral – First Filipino Recipient of the American Field Service Scholarships in 1956. The said scholarship stipulated one year schooling in public school in the United States while living with an American family.
• Benigno Hinolan – writer of the first biography article of the Philippine national hero Graciano López Jaena in 1923.
• Eliza U. Griño – The first exchange professor sent to China by the Philippine Government to teach English to university students.
• Enrique Zaldivar - former congressman and Philippine Ambassador to Brunei.
• Atty. Leo Tito Ausan Jr. – former Philippine Consul General to Germany.
• Joshua Miguel "Miggy" Alcazar - Midfielder of FC Barcelona.
• Estrellita B. Suansing - Nueva Ecija 1st District congresswoman.
• Assemblymen Edgar T. Espinosa Jr. (Guimaras); Arthur Defensor, Sr. (present governor of Iloilo province); Ferjenel Biron (former Congressman of Iloilo's Fourth District and author of the cheaper medicines bill.); Hernan Biron, Jr. (Iloilo fourth district); Richard S. Garin (Iloilo first district congressman and former Vice-governor of Iloilo Province); Pablo Nava III (Append Partylist)
• Provincial woman Governors Daisy Avance-Fuentes (former assemblywoman and present Governor of South Cotabato), and Salvacion Z. Perez (former congresswoman candidate and Governor of Antique Province)

Notes and references

Notes

a. ^{^} The Baptist Training School was established in June 1905 while the Jaro Industrial School for boys was established on 1 October 1905. The Jaro Industrial School for boys later became a junior college in 1923 and was renamed Central Philippine College, and in 1924, the Baptist Training School merged and became part of the Central Philippine College. In April 1953, Central Philippine College attained university status and became Central Philippine University.

References

3

External links

• Central Philippine University Official website
• Central Philippine University Library Main library
• The Central Echo (Official student publication) website
• CPU Research Center (URC)