The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) shall hold its 21st Commencement Exercises on 23 September 2017, at the Oblation Park, UP Open University , Los Baños, Laguna. Three hundred seventy-nine (379) UPOU students shall be conferred with their degrees:
Undergraduate degree programs- 71
Graduate certificate – 10
Graduate diploma programs – 166
Master's degree programs – 121
PhD programs – 11
The highest number of graduates belongs to Diploma in Language and Literacy Education and Diploma in International Health programs.
This year's graduates will be led by two magna cum laude from the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies program and 25 recipients of Academic Awards — 9 are on the Chancellor's List (those who got general weighted average (GWA) of 1.00 to 1.14) and 15 are on the Dean's List (with a GWA of 1.15 to 1.24).
The commencement speaker for this year is the newly appointed President of the University of the Philippines System, Atty. Danilo Concepcion. President "Danicon,"as he is more fondly known in UP, is a law practitioner and professor, bar reviewer, and a radio and TV personality. As the 21st UP President, he highlights the redefinition of UP's traditional culture of honor and excellence to include compassion, or "Husay, Dangal at Malasakit." This puts more emphasis on UP's service to the country.
President Danicon was the Dean of the UP College of Law before being appointed on 09 February 2017 as President of the national and premier state university of the Philippines. He earned his Master of Laws degree from the University of London as a Chevening Scholar of the United Kingdom government, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from UP Diliman, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering degree from De La Salle Araneta University. (Anna Cañas-Llamas)
