Thomasian Welcome Walk
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The Thomasian Welcome Walk (TWW) is an annual event of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. Freshmen walk through the Arch of the Centuries, a monument that served as the original doorway to the first campus of the university in Intramuros.
Event
The tradition of passing through the Arch of the Centuries 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 side of the arch then continues to the Rizal Lane (Lover's Lane) toward the UST Main Building.
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
| Date | Freshmen population | Venue of mass and programs | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 14, 2002 | In front of UST Main Building (now Plaza Mayor) | ||
| June 20, 2003 | ~5,000 | In front of UST Main Building (now Plaza Mayor) | |
| July 16, 2004 | |||
| June 2005 | Not held. Replaced by Walking Tour and Freshmen Orientation Program | ||
| July 21, 2006 | 7,302 | Plaza Benavides | |
| July 17, 2007 | 12,000 | UST Grandstand | |
| June 29, 2008 | UST Grandstand and Plaza Mayor | ||
| July 24, 2009 | 10,500 | UST Grandstand | |
| June 23, 2010 | UST Grandstand | ||
| August 5, 2011 | 10,000+ | ||
| September 24, 2012 | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 2 batches) | ||
| June 7, 2013 | 11,721 | UST Grandstand | |
| July 11, 2014 | 13,049 | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 2 batches) | |
| August 5, 2015 | 12,815 | UST Grandstand | |
| August 5, 2016 | 7,915 | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
| August 4, 2017 | 6,000+ (2,000+ first-year college students, 4,000+ Grade 11 senior high school students, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
| August 6, 2018 | 16,827 (12,866 first-year college, 3,433 grade 11 senior high school, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
| August 6-7, 2019 | 14,976 (9,909 college freshmen, 1,053 graduate school freshmen, 3,410 Grade 11, among others) | Quadricentennial Pavilion (in 3 batches) | |
| August 29-30, 2020, September 5-6, 2020 | 12,000+ | Online streaming on UST Tiger TV Facebook page | |
| August 9, 2022, August 23, 2022 (2nd and 3rd year students) | 8,523 college and graduate school freshmen 2,479 Grade 11 students | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
| August 4, 2023 (Basic Education) August 5, 2023 (Higher Education) | 9,450 college and graduate school freshmen 2,920 Grade 11 students | Quadricentennial Pavilion | |
| August 5, 2024 (Higher Education, Manila) August 7, 2024 (Basic Education) August 29, 2024 (GenSan) | 13,500 high school students, college and graduate school freshmen (Manila) 126 college freshmen (GenSan) | Quadricentennial Pavilion (Manila) In front of UST GenSan Main Building (GenSan) | |
| August 6, 2025 (Higher Education, Manila) August 7, 2025 (Basic Education) August 20, 2025 (GenSan) | 10,381 college and graduate school freshmen (Manila) 2,920 Grade 11 students 213 college freshmen (GenSan) | Quadricentennial Pavilion In front of UST GenSan Main Building (UST GenSan) |
Virtual walk
In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was replaced by a virtual tour of the campus with Minecraft. 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 Opening Ceremony
In 2016, the university hosted the UAAP Season 79 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.
It was done again when the university hosted the UAAP Season 88 opening ceremonies in 2025, this time with an accompanying drone show. Athletes turned left from the Plaza Mayor towards the University of Santo Tomas Field where the opening ceremonies took place.
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.