General Admission
SM making a big difference in school business
By Al S. Mendoza
TIMES change, indeed.
Whereas before, the school business has become the virtual exclusive domain of educators, that is not anymore the case today.
Using the example of the National University (NU), it is not educators alone that can become successful in running a learning institution.
Even total strangers to the 3 Rs can do it.
Or even shoe salesmen, if I may go a bit bolder than bold.
OK, OK, it’s Henry Sy I am talking about.
Mr. Sy began with shoes – literally.
His first SM (ShoeMart) that, initially only sold shoes started at Carriedo St., beside the famed Quiapo church in Manila.
Today, SM is all over the archipelago, the No. 1 shopping mall in almost every minor and major city in the country.
And today, you can buy not only shoes but anything at any SM mall, including sago to go with your banana cue.
And now this: Do you know that NU is now owned by Henry Sy?
Sy bought NU from the famed Jocson family of Sampaloc, Manila, where NU still stands today more than 80 years since its erection.
Before Sy took over, NU was in an utter state of disrepair – almost a condemned building.
But after only almost five, six, years since the sale, NU is again alive – and kicking.
Through Henry Sy’s son, Hans, NU is now back to its glory days when it used to be one of country’s top-ranked universities, specializing in engineering.
My father-in-law, Gregorio U. Juvida (may his soul rest in peace,) studied at NU and was plucked out there to represent the country in the Far Eastern Games as a volleyball player.
Being a star athlete, he caught the eye of campus beauties and his eventual wife, Salud S. Ferro, a full-blooded Spanish (my mother-in-law, of course,) was once crowned Miss National University.
I say a school can only be great when its sports program can consistently win championships.
I am biased because I am a sportswriter, a humble witness to the rise and fall of a school, sports-wise.
In the last four years alone, NU, the perennial doormat in the UAAP basketball wars since it last figured in the 1970 Finals when it lost to the University of the East, was in the Final 4 three times.
This year, it is in the championship playoffs and is set to face Far Eastern U on Wednesday (Oct. 15) for the UAAP men’s title in the decider of their best-of-three playoffs.
The game is pregnant with history since an FEU win will give the Tamaraws their 20th crown and their first since 2005.
But for NU, a victory will snap a 60-year losing streak, giving the Bulldogs only their second crown since the league’s birth 77 years ago.
Where did they keep that NU 1954 championship trophy, I want to know.
Win or lose for NU on Wednesday, that oldie would look goldie and would smell as sweet.
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