SU Grace Award 2024 honors 10 Student Services staff

Left to right: Abe P. Cadeliña, SU Student Organizations and Activities Division (SOAD) head; Princeton E. Apura, Silliman University (SU) Student Housing and Residence Division (SHRD) head; Maria Luz Cole-Havranek, ceremony guest speaker; Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, SU vice president for Academic Affairs (VPAA); awardees Feledelfo D. Oira, Glynnis Jean C. Casiño, Leandro S. Cabrera, Larry Vincent C. Regencia, Roberto A. Estoconing, Aniceto S. Garcia, Sabinita P. Condicion, and Rina M. Fernandez-Hill; Dr. Lourdes Angela F. Piñero, OD-HRM director; Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, awardee; Rodora T. Sagun, Student Scholarship and Aid Division (SSAD) head; Dr. Jaruvic C. Rafols, Guidance and Testing Division (GTD) head; Dr. Edna Gladys T. Calingacion, SU Office of Student Services (OSS) dean; Rev. Jonathan R. Pia, Senior Pastor and Minister to the SU Church; and Moses Joshua B. Atega, International Students Office (ISO) adviser, pose shortly after the awarding.

Ten (10) Silliman University (SU) Office of Student Services (OSS) personnel who have rendered years of service in different capacities were recognized during the annual Grace Award 2024 ceremony of the OSS, under Dr. Edna Gladys T. Calingacion’s leadership, and in celebration of its Diamond Jubilee, at the Audio-Visual Theatre on April 23, 2024.

This year’s Grace Award honorees include Feledelfo D. Oira, Glynnis Jean C. Casiño, Larry Vincent C. Regencia, Aniceto S. Garcia, Leandro S. Cabrera, Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, Rina M. Fernandez-Hill, Roberto A. Estoconing, Sabinita P. Condicion, and Generoso D. Monopollo, Jr. (posthumous award).

Feledelfo D. Oira served as maintenance custodian for Edith Carson Hall, COCOFED Dormitory, and Woodward Hall from 1981 to 2000.

Sabinita P. Condicion served as guidance counselor for the Junior High School Department from 2009 to 2022.

Roberto A. Estoconing served in various capacities from 1991 to 1993, and as dormitory manager for both Vernon Hall from 2000 to 2001 and Molave Cottage from 2002 to 2004, respectively.

Rina M. Fernandez-Hill served as dormitory adviser for Sampaguita Cottage from 1999 to 2006.

Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu served as Student Scholarship and Aid Division (SSAD) head from 2007 to 2009 and as guidance counselor from 1999 to 2022.

Leandro S. Cabrera served as dormitory manager for Ipil Cottage from 2006 to 2011.

Aniceto S. Garcia served as maintenance custodian for Edith Carson Hall, Occidental Hall, and Vernon Hall from 1981 to 2020.

Larry Vincent C. Regencia served as dormitory manager for Ipil Cottage from 2006 to 2011.

Glynnis Jean C. Casiño served as dormitory manager for Azucena Cottage in 2000 until 2016.

Generoso D. Monopollo, Jr. served as maintenance custodian for COCOFED Dormitory, Ethel Chapman, and Edith Carson Hall from 1990 to 2017. The Grace Award 2024 was posthumously awarded to Monopollo Jr., whose wife couldn’t make it to the event to receive the award on her husband’s behalf due to personal reasons.

Established in 2017 to honor the loyalty and excellence of service behind select personnel in the OSS who have helped provide services for students as dormitory managers, guidance counselors, or maintenance and utility custodians, the Grace Award is named after Grace W. Carr, a nurse faculty who served as Matron of Oriental Hall in the 1930s. The award has then been presented annually since 2017.

According to Moses Joshua B. Atega, chairperson of the Grace Award Committee and International Students Office (ISO) adviser, the Grace Award is inspired from a passage in the Scriptures, particularly from John 1: 16-17 (NRSV), which says, “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The Award is a prestigious honor anchored in faith, where only by the grace of God can the opportunity to serve be made possible.

Moses Joshua B. Atega, Grace Award committee chair and International Students Office adviser, hosts the ceremony.

“All honorees have this ‘love for Silliman’ in all their years of service. This is evident in their sense of pride in having served on campus. Manong Cito [Aniceto S. Garcia] of our dormitory maintenance team shared this with the smile of a joyful heart,” Atega said in an email correspondence when asked what a common quality this year’s awardees share.

Maria Luz Cole-Havranek, Speech and Theatre alumna and former “Big Sister” of Sampaguita Cottage who served as the event’s guest speaker, thanked all the student service providers recognized during the ceremony.

“We are here today to honor our beloved dormitory managers and to honor everyone who has given their life in the service of Silliman University Student Services,” Cole-Havranek said in her message.

Maria Luz Cole-Havranek, Speech and Theatre alumna and former “Big Sister” of Sampaguita Cottage, thanks all the honorees in her message.

As a parent herself whose daughter also graduated from SU, Cole-Havranek applauded the awardees for their service, one that she described as “ the mortar that binds us to the foundation of our being Sillimanians and the Silliman spirit that we share.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, SU vice president for Academic Affairs (VPAA), celebrated the “exceptional dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment” of these esteemed colleagues in the Student Services, and emphasized the significance of the awards being bestowed upon the honorees.

Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, SU vice president for Academic Affairs (VPAA), reads his message to this year’s honorees.

“These awards are a testament to the outstanding contributions and exemplary service of our personnel who play a vital role in shaping holistic educational experiences of our students. Their tireless efforts, compassion, and professionalism have made a significant impact on the lives of our students, creating an enduring and supportive environment that fosters growth and success,” Cleope said.

Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, one of the awardees, closed the ceremony by reminiscing the good old days while seeing familiar faces and meeting new acquaintances among her co-awardees.

“As retirees, our only job is to reminisce probably… we can now leisurely walk along the paths of Silliman campus, remembering how, day-in and day-out through [the] years, we hurriedly went our business and may have failed to notice the changing of seasons of the acacia trees and other plant havens in the campus,” Nacu recalled.

Ma. Roiselle D. Nacu, former Student Scholarship and Aid Division head and guidance counselor, fondly shares her joys working for the OSS.

Nacu underscored that the reason she loved her job was because of the relationships she had fostered with students, one that “we will always, even now, hold dear in our hearts.”
She then reminded her co-awardees to always be proud of being part of the lives of all students who have left the halls of Silliman during their time of service.

“That is our greatest reward,” she said, addressing her co-awardees.

Also present at the awarding ceremony were Dr. Edna Gladys T. Calingacion, OSS dean; Dr. Lourdes Angela F. Piñero, OD-HRM director; Dr. Jaruvic C. Rafols, Guidance and Testing Division (GTD) head; Princeton E. Apura, Silliman University (SU) Student Housing and Residence Division (SHRD) head; Abe P. Cadeliña, SU Student Organizations and Activities Division (SOAD) head; Rodora T. Sagun, Student Scholarship and Aid Division head; and Rev. Jonathan R. Pia, Senior Pastor and Minister to the SU Church. Staff of the OSS were also at the event.