I thank the Inquirer for featuring the Mindanao State University (MSU) on the front page of its September 1 issue, in time for the institution’s golden anniversary. The article tugged at the heart of this alumnus. Oftentimes, it’s the top universities in Metro Manila that get prominent space in the country’s broadsheets. Outside of Mindanao, little is known about MSU and what it has done for the development of the island dubbed the “land of promise.” In the few instances that it gets mention in the national press, MSU is associated with unflattering news like incidents of kidnapping and violence on the campus.
“MSU ‘transformative magic’ hailed” by Ryan Rosauro shows that better things are happening in the cradle of Mindanao’s premier institution of higher learning, and that after 50 years in existence, it hasn’t lost sight of its lofty purpose as a fount of knowledge for those who seek to better themselves and the society they live in. Yet more than providing quality education, it is promoting greater understanding, peace and social integration among Muslims and Christians that is MSU’s best suit.
And today, MSU stands as a proud sentinel of that continuing, shared, albeit elusive, aspiration among Mindanaoans. Now, if only MSU is spared from the systemic ills that it has found itself in!
—JUN SUNICO, jrflorisun@yahoo.com