The La Sallian way

By Julio C. Teehankee

Close to two and a half decades ago, I had the special privilege of serving as one of the editors of the bastion of issue-oriented critical thinking and the official student publication of De La Salle University – The LaSallian.  From a cub reporter, in my froshie year, covering the twilight of the Marcos dictatorship to serving as editor of the Features Section (now called the Menagerie) chronicling the birth pangs of our newly restored democracy under the first Aquino administration. I’ve seen it all.

Those were the days when our generation was educated in the streets, as much as inside the classroom. I’ve experienced the painful gush of water cannons and the sting of tear gas in violent dispersals of anti-Marcos rallies. I’ve had goons in Makati point their Armalite rifles at me while covering the snap presidential election of 1986. I’ve witnessed the several coup attempts of nefarious characters who now sit in the halls of Congress and continue to twist their role in their revisionist version of history.

In a way, my stint at The LaSallian (the school paper) helped prepare me for a longer, much deeper commitment to the Lasallians (the school). Choosing a path less taken in a family known in the legal profession (three Teehankees have topped the Bar exam), I eschewed my original plan to take up law and accepted the invitation of my department chair to take a part-time teaching position. Through the years, I’ve again managed to rise up the ranks from assistant lecturer to an associate professor and three-term chair of the Political Science Department.

I’ve embraced the teaching profession in the belief that students, especially Lasallian students, should be properly educated in the classroom, so that there will be lesser need to go out in the streets again. Of course, the twist and turns of our nation’s recent history have necessitated us to protest in the streets again and again (and now even in cyberspace).  This is a sad testimony to the fact that much work still needs to be done in terms of nation building.

Upon immersing myself into the Lasallian academic community, I’ve gradually imbibed the real meaning of the Lasallian mission of “teaching minds, touching hearts, and transforming lives.” Through believers and non-believers alike, I’ve seen the real meaning of “living Jesus in our hearts, forever.” Most important of all, I’ve experienced the true meaning of Lasallian education in the example set by the Christian Brothers, my mentors, and my colleagues. Three of them are worth mentioning.

Br. Andrew Gonzales, the visionary president who conceptualized the De La Salle University System, once told us “rules are not made in heaven.” By this he meant, that in the academic setting, rules should facilitate creativity and knowledge; and enable the faculty and students to achieve excellence, never to constrain them. Br. Andrew instilled in me the need to always think “outside the box” and see the “bigger picture.” He was responsible for a number of educational innovations that were way ahead of his time. While he made sure that the university was ran professionally, he never let it run like a corporation, or worse run like a government bureaucracy. He was always willing to nurture the next generation of teachers, scholars, and academics.

My mentor Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta has consistently demonstrated his strong commitment to nationalist advocacies, but has also been the paragon of enlightened internationalism having served as DLSU’s Senior Vice President for External Operations, then Deputy Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), and later Philippine Ambassador to ASEAN. He has taught me the art of international networking, the value of protocol, and the importance of “academic diplomacy.” After his stint with the ASEAN, he continues to think of positive ways of boosting our country’s standing in the international community.

My beloved colleague, the late Dr. Roberto “Bobby” Mendoza of the Psychology Department, was truly one of a kind Lasallian educator. His dedication to his students went beyond the confines of the classroom. He was always there for his students with his cheery disposition and unorthodox ways. Every time the elevator opens at the William Hall, I half expect to see his smiling face and asking me the all familiar question: “But are you really happy?” In life he generously showed his genuine love for teaching; and in death, the students loved him back. The long lines of students and alumni who visited his wake were truly a testimony to a teacher whose legacy as a Lasallian educator shall never be forgotten.

In the past 25 years, teaching my students has been my greatest joy and reason for being. I have learned a lot from my students, as much as I hope my students have learned from me. I have missed out a lot of other things in life because of my academic profession, but I have no regrets. It brings me an immeasurable amount of joy every time I come across kind words of appreciation from my former students online or when I occasionally bump into them outside the university.

To those students that I’ve inspired, please remember to pay it forward and continue to dream not only for yourself, your family, and your friends, but for our entire nation. For your dreams will continue to serve as the nation’s wellspring of hope for a brighter and better future.

To those students that I’ve disappointed (one way or the other), I sincerely apologize for my shortcomings, but sometimes unacknowledged conditions lead to unintended consequences. Oftentimes we are victims of fate’s sick sense of humor. But I fervently believe that in a parallel universe, things turned out fine and that we are the best of friends.

Again I find myself in a privilege position as Chair of the International Studies Department, I am helping to nurture budding academic careers of the young faculty members of my department. As Executive Secretary of the Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA), I hope to inspire and nurture the next generation of Asian scholars. As part of the DLSU’s big push towards internationalization, I’ve endeavored to actively build global networks, emphasizing the need to establish person-to-person, face-to-face relationships as the foundation for long term institutional partnerships in the region and the world. Together with my colleagues at the IS Department, we are building for the university a corps of “academic diplomats” that will help propel DLSU into the heart of the global Asian century.

I have always believed in accentuating the positive. I have been sustained by unbounded optimism and the primordial belief that “all will be well.” In the end, I have opted to “construct” rather than “deconstruct.” For this is the Lasallian way.