Page 14 - UPAAA GRC '21 Souvenir Journal

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NEVADA

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

On behalf of UPAAN who is co-hosting with UPAAA, Inc. the 21 Grand Reunion and
st
Convention (ARISE: “Pagbangon at Parangal”), we welcome you to this first ever virtual
reunion. If not for the pandemic, this would have been a live face-to-face gathering in
fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, and would have been the third time that UPAA-Nevada co-
hosted the event live, the first one being in 1999 at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino and the
second one in 2013 at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino.

UPAAA, Inc.’s biennial GRC is designed to bring together our alumni in the USA to support
the UP System in pursuing its vision/mission of becoming a national center of excellence
for advanced studies in politics and public policy committed to addressing the challenges
facing the country and the global community. Net proceeds of the GRCs - past, present, and
future - are donated to the UP System in the form of scholarship grants, professorial chair
grants and all kinds of support to help the students, the staff and the whole UP Community
from Baguio to Mindanao. We try to raise funds for UP while having fun recapturing
memories of campus life, renewing old friendships, and forging new ones.

We would like to congratulate the UPAAA, Inc. officers, the GRC leadership team, the 2021
UPAAA, Inc. awardees, the jubilarians, guest speakers, performers, sponsors, donors,
st
advertisers, exhibitors, attendees, and volunteers for making this 21 GRC a smashing
success, despite the pandemic and all the obstacles associated with a virtual GRC.

We sincerely hope that this GRC has rekindled our love for our Alma Mater and has made
us rededicate ourselves to pay back our Alma Mater for teaching us how to think, how to be
independent, and how to navigate life. UP means a lot to us and I’m sure it means a lot to all
of you, too, so let’s all help UP push on!

Padayon!

Isidro C. Dela Cruz, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
UPAAN Director, Historian, Registered Agent and Past President

Directors: Isidro Dela Cruz | Luzviminda Sapin Micabalo | Will Vicuña | Elizabeth Ilagan Reyes
Ester Reyes | Ana Quimpo Parcon
Dorothy Llariza-Tome (Pres.) | Benjamina Casiño (VP) | Alexa Balingit-Alvarez (Sec.)
Lilia Melocoton-Castaneda (Treas.) | Minnie Ramos Wimperis (Aud.) | Julie Ann Torremoro (PRO)
Carlo Maglinao (CTO)