Memorable homecoming

BENITEZ (WITH THE AUTHOR, RIGHT). Turns 100 on June 24.

Helena Benitez, chair emeritus of Philippine Women’s University (PWU), will turn 100 on June 24. In a special gathering held in her honor recently, she sat beside the institution’s new president, Francisco Benitez, Amelou Benitez, former first lady Imelda Marcos and Rep. Lito Atienza, a former Bayanihan dancer.

Tita Helen was a student when the 95-year-old institution was founded in 1919. She refers to herself as a “lifelong educator”—and very aptly so.

Trivia

Some trivia on PWU’s new president: Francisco became the institution’s ninth president on Feb. 21, 2011. He got his Comparative Literature degree from Cornell University, graduating summa cum laude.

Over a thousand alumni came home from different parts of the globe to join the reunion and alumni homecoming, hosted by Tirso Cruz III, with each group presenting a different musical production.

The “Never On A Sunday” number was particularly memorable for me because it allowed me to bond with my BFFs, Gloria Garcia Dominguez, Myrna Magdaluyo, Linda Victa Robeniol and Edna Bulseco Baxter.

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