BY KAYLA VALERA | STAFF WRITER
Every year, students across all UH campus systems who are at least part Filipino heritage congregate for the annual Pamantasan event held at one of the seven UH campuses. This year’s theme is “Don’t Stop Believing” and will feature topics covering Civic & Creative Engagement.
“Pamantasan,” translated from Tagalog, means “higher education.” As its name suggests its purpose, the Pamantasan event led by the Pamantasan Council hopes to encourage Filipino students or any student in general to strive for a higher level of education that doesn’t just stop at an associate’s degree.
(Photo courtesy of Bayanihan Club)
This year’s annual conference will be hosted at two locations; one at KCC and one at UH West Oʻahu. The first event on March 17 will be spearheaded by KCC’s own Filipino Club, the Bayanihan Club, and will last from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Upon arriving on campus, there will be volunteers who will guide guests into the different buildings that each conference or activity will take place in.
The Pamantasan Conference will showcase Filipino culture and heritage but will primarily focus on developing leadership skills and ways to achieve higher degrees from former student candidates of the Pamantasan council.
President of the Bayanihan club, Lara Dogma, provided her own insight on the matter as to why such a club is so necessary to this specific demographic of students: “The reason why most tests don’t have ‘Filipino’ as a race when asked to bubble in an ethnicity is because most Filipino students don’t pursue a higher education.”
Amy Agbayani, a member of the Pamantasan Council stated that: “(The Council) was formed in 1987 by the Vice President for Academic Affairs, faculty and students to address the representation and success of Filipinos at UH and to ensure that Filipino American and Philippine courses are represented in the curriculum.”
The UH West Oʻahu event on March 18 from 8 a.m.-4:45 p.m., will also announce the specific location on campus where guests will be meeting at.
The fees for the event is as follows:
High school Students- $5
College students- $15
Staff and Faculty- $25
Volunteers- $5
What the fee accounts for is the provided food that will be served between workshops, as well as the various activities that will be going on throughout the course of the event.
For more information about this year’s Pamantasan event, either email the president of the Bayanihan club, Lara Domogma, at bayanihankcc@gmail.com, or visit the 2017 Pamantasan website.
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