San Beda College

RPKMC aims to sharpen the research and planning competencies of its administrators, faculty and students and push the frontiers of knowledge in various areas of study. It also seeks to contribute to the overall development of SBC by providing leadership in systematizing, institutional information and procedures for effective planning and direction-setting of SBC's research, planning, and development programs through conduct of training, education, national and international linkage activities with the academe, industry and government. As official repository it will provide data and information to the administration, colleges, offices, other stakeholders and external bodies for management, assessment, and related purposes.

Today, we are confronted with the challenge of a revolutionalized basic education system that impels us to rethink our vision for and formation of our young students.

Indeed, the relationship between our basic education program in our Rizal campus and our higher education program in Manila may have to be less than the seamless continuum that we got used to for many years.We certainly have turned around the college in relation to its reputable standing among peer colleges and universities. The Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), in its interim visit in late 2011, gave highly positive observations on the substantive improvements and promising initiatives made by the college, particularly in the College of Arts and Sciences. San Beda College is poised to further expand its portfolio of program offerings while at the same time reinforcing its national reputation as a leading school for law, accountancy, entrepreneurship and liturgy.

In the aspect of academic reform, we have established the Academic Council as the highest policy making body on matters of quality assurance, thematic research agenda, faculty rank, tenure and promotion, and the school's long-term strategic directions. We have engendered a culture of accountability of academic departments and the service support units through requisite submissions of three-year action plans and regular, semestral accomplishments reports.

By expanding the portfolio of professorial chairs as well as grants for research, scholarship, travels for international and national conferences, and dissertation writing, we have bolstered research life among our faculty. The past three years have seen stepped-up engagements in research and academic conferences by faculty and students.

In good times and bad, especially those brought about by natural calamities, we have reached out to our less fortunate brethren, their families and communities, by mobilizing our students and faculty through our community involvement and outreach programs. Amidst unexpected turmoil, sadness and tragedy that rocked student life, we have remained united and steadfast in our total respect for life and value for peace by nurturing a genuine community for our students and educating them about the unnecessary risks brought about by inductions to fraternities.

Overall, while abiding to our time-honoured commitments to academic excellence, research, service to the community, and engagement with the world, we have tried to remain true to San Beda College's hallmarks of Benedictine education.The story of San Beda College in Manila is richly wedded to the narratives of the Roman Catholic Church, Western civilization, and the Philippines' journey as a nation.

San Beda College (El Colegio de San Beda) was established in 1901 by monks of the Ordo Sancti Benedicti (OSB) or Order of St. Benedict, also known as the Benedictines. Its founder, Benedict was born in the Umbrian town of Nursia, near Spoleto, Italy, in the waning years of the Roman Empire, AD 480. He hailed from a well-established family and was believed to have a twin sister, Scholastica.

As a scholar in Rome, Benedict knew and appreciated the splendours of Roman culture. But he was disillusioned with the worldliness around him and found inspiration in Christianity which was slowly expanding its roots. Eventually, he fled to the mountains of Subiaco where he lived in a cave as a hermit known only to the holy monk Romanus who provided him with food and clothing. After undergoing a deep spiritual experience, Benedict soon became renowned for his holiness and attracted some followers. He established twelve monasteries at Subiaco and founded the Monastery of Monte Casino, a place about 80 miles Southeast of Rome. In this monastery, he wrote the Holy Rule, Regula Sancti Benedicti, an embodiment of the balance between prayer and work (Ora et Labora), and lived at Monte Cassino until his death on March 21, around 547 A.D.

The Abbey of Monte Cassino became the cradle of the Benedictine Order. From this great monastery, the Benedictine Order spread far and wide, becoming one of the chief formative factors in the development of the New Europe. The Benedictine monks became the pioneers of Christian civilization, preaching the Gospel, preserving the Scriptures and other sacred writings of the Church as well as other classical literary treasures, serving the poor and sick, and teaching religion and various crafts to the young. Their influence from the 6th to the 13th century was so great that historians called this period the "Benedictine centuries" and St. Benedict is acclaimed as the "Father of Western Monasticism". In 1964, Pope Paul VI declared St. Benedict as the “Patron of Europe.