The Thomasian Welcome Walk (TWW) is an annual event of the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.. Freshmen walk through the

Arch of the Centuries The Arch of the Centuries ( fil, Arko ng mga Siglo, es, Arco de los Siglos) is a triumphal arch at the Plaza Intramuros of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, in the Philippines that stands meters away from the university's ''Mille ...

, a monument that served as the original doorway to the first campus of the university in

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day I ...

Event

The tradition of passing through the

as a welcome to the freshmen community began in 2002. It was first called as "The Rites of Passage". The activities in welcoming the new students were made to complement the Baccalaureate Mass and send-off rites to the graduates at end of the school year. The parade is followed by a mass that is usually concelebrated by the university rector. It is a popular superstition that undergraduates should not pass through the arch the opposite way before the send-off rites because it could result in an untimely exit from the university..

Parade route

The parade begins from assembly areas of the different college buildings then converges on Intramuros Drive. The students enter the

España Boulevard España Boulevard is an eight–lane major thoroughfare in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, named after Spain, the country that formerly held the Philippines as an overseas territory. True to its name, several Spanish names abound the ...

side of the arch then continues to the Rizal Lane (Lover's Lane) toward the

UST Main Building The Main Building of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, Philippines functions as the university's administrative center, and home of the Faculty of Civil Law, Faculty of Pharmacy, and the College of Science. The Main Building is al ...

. In the early years, the parade passed through the Benavides Plaza and ended in front of the Main Building where a mass and welcoming events were held. The venues changed later on to accommodate the increased freshmen population. In years not affected by the weather, programs are held at the UST Grandstand. The route turns left before it reaches the Benavides Plaza and goes straight to the UST Grandstand. During inclement weather, the route turns right before it reaches the Benavides Plaza and ends at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

List of walks

Virtual walk

In 2020, because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the event was replaced by a virtual tour of the campus with

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

. The virtual tour had a dedicated Minecraft server that was constructed by over 80 UST students. The project won the “Project of the Year” award in the first-ever AcadArena Awards.

UAAP Season 79 opening

In 2016, the university hosted the

UAAP Season 79 UAAP Season 79 (also known as UAAP LXXIX) is the 2016–2017 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). This season, hosted by the University of Santo Tomas officially opened on September 3, 2016. The opening c ...

opening ceremonies in the campus. Student-athletes from all sporting disciplines of all the member schools passed through the arch. The parade moved straight to Rizal Lane, past the statue of Miguel de Benavides, and through to the Plaza Mayor. This was promptly followed by a 10-minute fireworks display from atop the Main Building.

Postponements

In 2009, the Walk was postponed for more than a month because of the cases of Influenza A(H1N1) virus in the campus. In 2012, like the previous years, the Walk was postponed several times because of bad weather. Originally scheduled on June 28, it was held on September 24 at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion. The Walk, for the first time, was divided into two batches as the venue could not accommodate all freshmen students. The first batch was held in the morning and it was participated by students from the Arts and Letters, Engineering, Commerce and Business Administration, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Science, Music, and Education High School. The Walk for the second batch took place immediately after.Freshman hold welcome walk finally

The Varsitarian ''The Varsitarian'' (Varsi, The V, or V) is the official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Founded in January 1928 by a group of students led by Jose Villa Panganiban, it is one of the first student newspapers in the Phi ...

. Breaking News • September 24, 2012.

References

{{UST University of Santo Tomas Events in Metro Manila