A ‘no entry’ sign yesterday greeted students and faculty of Southwestern University as a problem among the owners resulted in a ‘school holiday.’ (CDN PHOTO/CARINE ASUTILLA)
A row between warring factions in the board of trustees of Southwestern University (SWU) came to a head yesterday after the school administration declared a holiday.
SWU students and faculty members were surprised when the school’s security guards stopped them from entering the campus.
A school bus was parked outside, blocking the main entrance with a “no entry” sign nearby. Another bus blocked the exit gate.
The guards said the school holiday was declared Tuesday night and they were under orders not to allow anyone in.
Only parents of graduating high school students who were scheduled to hold a meeting were allowed to enter the campus.
“We heard yesterday that some owners of the school were having problems, but we never thought that it would go this far,” said Mary Jane Esimos, a master’s degree student.
Another student said she hopes the conflict won’t affect preparations for the graduation ceremonies on March 30.
“We came here from Iloilo just to study. We really hope that we can graduate on time and won’t be affected by the problems of school shareholders,” Sherm Lacabe said.
Inocencio dela Cerna, legal counsel of the majority bloc in the Board of Trustees said the holiday is due to the threat of minority members to take over management of the school.
Dela Cerna said that a few days ago, three of the nine members of the Board sent letters about their plan to take over. They also sent copies to the Deans of Colleges about their plan.
“The rest of the Board of Trustees convened to prevent any untoward incident from happening during the takeover. It was deemed prudent to close the school for now,” Dela Cerna said.
Dela Cerna said they are appealing to the minority bloc to follow the grievance process and not resort to violence.
“The three members of the board of directors who compose the minority, are the uncles and aunts of those who compose the majority bloc of the Board,” Dela Cerna said.
He said the problem is related to upcoming elections for new members of the board.
Two-thirds of the majority are still in control of the school, he said.
He said SWU president Dr. Elsa Suralta assured d the situation was temporary and that school is still operating normally.