Shattering the Myth About Rizal and the Pontifical Ust
Shattering the myth about Rizal and the Pontifical UST
Here are some excerpts from Fr. Fidel Villaroel’s study:
Myth: Rizal complained about his grades in UST and was discriminated and treated shabbily by the Dominicans.
Fact: 1. Rizal entered the UST in 1877, enrolling in the Pre-Law Course, which was made up of philosophical subjects. The course was commonly called metaphysics. He passed the course brilliantly with the highest grades in spite of his initial indifference to philosophy and his youthful distractions through the year. Then he opted for the career of medicine. And in 1878-1879 he took simultaneously the Pre-Medical Course and the First Year of Medicine; this was against the rules, but Rizal was favored with a dispensation. The Pre-Medicine Course was also called Ampliacion, because the student, having taken already Physics, Chemistry and Natural History in the high school, now took an advanced course on the same subjects (Rizal did not take in Santo Tomas the “class of physics” described in El Fili but rather in Ateneo).
In his courses of medicine, Rizal was a good student, above-average, though not excellent; but none of his classmates were excellent either. Summing up, in the 21 subjects taken in UST, Rizal obtained one aprobado (passing grade), eight bueno (good), six notable (very good) and six sobresaliente (excellent). Majority of students in Rizal’s time, or in any time, would have been satisfied with the above grades. It is possible that Rizal was not, but it is a fact that he never complained about his grades, there is not a single word in his works showing displeasure at the unfairness of UST.
Yet many of his biographers are angry, unreasonably angry (including anti-ust pexers?) at the treatment given to the national hero by his alma mater. How could Rizal, after a perfect record of “Excellent” in the high school (Ateneo) now receive such “low” grades at UST? The critics had to look for an explanation, and since they did not
Here are some excerpts from Fr. Fidel Villaroel’s study:
Myth: Rizal complained about his grades in UST and was discriminated and treated shabbily by the Dominicans.
Fact: 1. Rizal entered the UST in 1877, enrolling in the Pre-Law Course, which was made up of philosophical subjects. The course was commonly called metaphysics. He passed the course brilliantly with the highest grades in spite of his initial indifference to philosophy and his youthful distractions through the year. Then he opted for the career of medicine. And in 1878-1879 he took simultaneously the Pre-Medical Course and the First Year of Medicine; this was against the rules, but Rizal was favored with a dispensation. The Pre-Medicine Course was also called Ampliacion, because the student, having taken already Physics, Chemistry and Natural History in the high school, now took an advanced course on the same subjects (Rizal did not take in Santo Tomas the “class of physics” described in El Fili but rather in Ateneo).
In his courses of medicine, Rizal was a good student, above-average, though not excellent; but none of his classmates were excellent either. Summing up, in the 21 subjects taken in UST, Rizal obtained one aprobado (passing grade), eight bueno (good), six notable (very good) and six sobresaliente (excellent). Majority of students in Rizal’s time, or in any time, would have been satisfied with the above grades. It is possible that Rizal was not, but it is a fact that he never complained about his grades, there is not a single word in his works showing displeasure at the unfairness of UST.
Yet many of his biographers are angry, unreasonably angry (including anti-ust pexers?) at the treatment given to the national hero by his alma mater. How could Rizal, after a perfect record of “Excellent” in the high school (Ateneo) now receive such “low” grades at UST? The critics had to look for an explanation, and since they did not