Faithful to its Quadricentennial aspirations, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) will officially launch Simbahayan 400: Tomasino Para sa Simbahan, Bahay, at Bayan, on Thursday (Feb. 4) along with two other events as part of the University’s year-long set of activities toward its 400th year celebration in 2011.

Promoting the theme “UST: Building the Church, Building the Nation, Our Birthright and Destiny”, the centerpiece project of UST’s Quadricentennial celebration is a holistic community development project that encapsulates the 400-year activities of the University for the building of the Church, the home and the nation.

Simbahayan 400 will target areas of education and values formation (karunungan at pagpapahalaga), housing, site of planning and ecological management (kanlungan/kalikasan), healthcare (kalusugan), livelihood (kabuhayan), and formation for peace (kapayapaan) of the communities in the 400 Thomasian villages.  At 9 a.m. of the same day, UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. will lead the unveiling of the UST marker near the Arch of the Centuries with other top University officials.

The marker, which will serve as a repository of the list of 2011 graduates, was designed by Architecture Dean John Joseph Fernandez and Arch. Froilan Fontecha, a UST alumnus.

Shortly after the unveiling, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Thomasian Alumni Center will be held at the covered court fronting the UST gym, with officials of the UST Medical Alumni Association of America Foundation (USTMAAAF) turning over donations to the University as initial funds for the construction of the alumni center building.

Four pigeons symbolizing the four centuries of UST will be released by Fr. de la Rosa, Dr. Stella Evangelista, USTMAAAF executive director, Dr. Robert Sy, UST Alumni Association Inc. president, and Mr. Jesi Alec Ling, Architecture Student Team Leader to cap the groundbreaking rites.