University of St. La Salle

Infobox_University
name = University of St. La Salle


established = 1952
former_names= "La Salle College - Bacolod"
motto = "Religio Mores Cultura"
Excellence with a Soul, Competence with Compassion
type = Private
affiliation = Roman Catholic, Lasallian
president = Br. Raymundo B. Suplido FSC, Ph.D
city = Bacolod City
state = Philippines
address = La Salle Avenue., Bacolod City
students = over 9,000 (excluding Integrated School students)
undergrad =
postgrad =
staff =
campus = Urban, 20 hectares
free_label = Hymn
free = Alma Mater Hymn
colors = Green and White color box|#006633color box|white
mascot = Stingers
website = [http://www.usls.edu.ph/ www.usls.edu.ph] |

The University of St. La Salle (USLS or La Salle-Bacolod) is a private Catholic university run by the De La Salle Brothers located in La Salle Avenue, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. The university was established when then Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Montelibano Sr. offered a ten-hectare lot to the Brothers in 1946 for the purpose. La Salle-Bacolod was once a male-exclusive school until it opened its doors to its first batch of female college students in 1966. [ [http://www.usls.edu.ph/University_Profiles/Institutional_History.cfm University of St. La Salle - Bacolod: Institutional History (A La Salle School in Negros)] [http://www.usls.edu.ph usls.edu.ph] Accessed June 10, 2008]

Its main campus in La Salle Avenue houses the university's college and graduate school units, as well as its high school and grade school (collectively, the Integrated School). The USLS Health Sciences Campus, located at Lacson Blvd., is an additional facility for students under its Nursing and Medicine program. Its other campus, the 55-hectare scenic USLS Granada Campus, is home to the Agribusiness Farm and the Science Ecological Park, which caters to its Agribusiness students. La Salle-Bacolod offers programs in elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels.

History

USLS was founded by Br. Dennis Ruland FSC, Br. Hugh Wester FSC, and Br. V. Felix Masson FSC. La Salle College-Bacolod opened with 175 male students from Prep to Grade 5, under seven faculty members. The school building was unimpressive, built amidst sprawling muddy grounds and borded by cane fields of adjoining lands.

In the 1960s La Salle College-Bacolod expanded from Grade School to College. This was made possible through donations by alumni, parents and benefactors. The school became co-educational in 1966.

On July 5, 1988, La Salle College-Bacolod was formally elevated to university status and christened "University of St. La Salle" during rites graced by then Honorable Secretary of Education Lourdes Quisumbing.

It played host to the Beach Volleyball and Boxing events during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

Patron saint

The university's patron saint is St. John Baptist de La Salle, a French priest, educational reformer, and founder of international educational movement who spent over forty years of his life dedicated to education for the children of the poor. In the process, he standardized educational practices throughout France, wrote inspirational meditations on the ministry of teaching (along with catechisms, politeness texts, and other resources for teachers and students), and became the catalyst and resource for many other religious congregations dedicated to education that were founded in the 18th and 19th centuries.

ee also

*List of tertiary schools in Bacolod City
*The Spectrum - Official student publication

Notes and references