Text by Gari Jamero | Photos by The Crusader Yearbook
Decors were strewn across the university lanes and booths. Students donned the costumes derived from various festivals in the Philippines. Loud cheers and excitement pervaded the air as the celebration reached a fever pitch.
The Central Student Government (CSG) of Xavier University, through its Department of Events Management, frontlined this year’s Organizational Trip or commonly known as OrgTrip dubbed as “Hugyaw” featuring student organizations and college councils bringing to life the colorful Philippine festivals.
With the theme “Discover, Experience, Celebrate,” the event captivated XU students to seek the orgs that pique their interests, talents and skills. The week-long event, spanning from July 15 to 21, kicked off with the Parade of Festivals followed by the University-wide General Assembly at the XU Gymnasium.
Each college council had a representative or an emblem donning the costume a particular festival. The emblems from the councils and the Assembly of Extra-Curricular Organizations (AECO) led the parade around the campus with outfits inspired from the Kaamulan of Bukidnon, Kadayawan of Davao City, Ati-atihan of Kalibo, Aklan, and MassKara of Bacolod, among others.
The following mob also wore festive garments, performing dances akin to the street revelries culminating at the General Assembly where members of the XU community packed the gym full.
In his message, XU-CSG president Joseph Roldan Tagalog encouraged the students to discover and nurture their talents and skills by joining the orgs at Xavier.
“Ano man ang hilig mo, meron dito!” Tagalog said, adding that CSG aims to bring its leadership and programs to closer to the student community of XU. “At malay mo, dito mo makita ang iyong ‘forever,’” he jested.
[Whatever your interest is, we have it here! And who knows, you might find your ‘forever’ here.]
The OrgTrip has remained one of the premier events hosted by XU-CSG designed to instil within the studentry the motivation to be involved in various student orgs — from rodeo team to theater companies, humanitarian missions and campus journalism, among others.
The promotional videos of the councils were also presented before the festival performances where the School of Business and Management Student Council’s video emerged the best in the student council category while XU Karatedo Organization’s video reaped the top place among the inter-AECO entries.
The General Assembly culminated with the message from the Student Activities and Leadership Development (SACDEV) head Richel P Petalcurin. She expressed her gratitude to those who took part in the event’s preparation and implementation.
Petalcurin added that the large number of participants this year has more than compensated the efforts of the organizers in pursuing the OrgTrip.
Following the General Assembly, different orgs had set up booths where students signed up for membership and they remained open until July 21.
From bullwhipping to art exhibit, mountaineering to acting groups, different organizations showcased what they can offer to the XU community until the last day of the week-long event. Some orgs even extended their recruitment period to accommodate other students who are interested to become their members.
With more than 70 co-curricular and extra-curricular organizations to choose from at Xavier, Hugyaw 2015 has drawn students to “discover their passion, experience a journey outside the classrooms, and celebrate accomplishments and lessons along the way.”