The College of Mass Communication (CMC) has officially changed its name to University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) College of Media and Communication.
The resolution was approved during this year’s first regular meeting of the Board of Regents (BOR), the highest decision-making body of the UP system, following the Presidential Advisory Council’s (PAC) endorsement last Jan. 22. The council includes key officials and chancellors from UP constituent units.
Before reaching PAC, the proposal underwent a series of endorsements and approvals from various executive bodies, including the CMC faculty assembly, UPD Executive Committee, and University Council.
CMC Dean Fernando Paragas confirmed that the college’s new name is “effective today,” in a correspondence with Tinig ng Plaridel.
The plan to rename the college was first revealed on April 24, 2023, during a forum led by Department of Broadcast Communication Chair Alwin Aguirre.
Aguirre argued that the term mass communication is “problematic” due to its historical use in “commercial, Evangelical Christian, American, and liberal anti-communist propaganda.”
Associate Dean Maria Aurora Liwag-Lumibao added that the phrase “media and communication” better reflects new and emerging forms of media while also recognizing audiences as “active” rather than a “homogeneous mass.”
The plan was revisited during the college’s planning workshop in Baguio City from July 31 to Aug. 2 last year. It was then formally announced as a resolution three days later.
The admin later held a two-day dialogue to address concerns raised by students and organizations over the lack of “thorough” consultation and the timing of the renaming plan.
Read: UP CMC finalizes renaming plans, draws student concerns over consultation
With less than a month in his term as a dean, Paragas is set to leave behind a major change in the college’s identity while passing future plans to the next dean through the established agendas.
“It is a collective college agenda articulated by faculty and staff kaya the next admin is to pursue it,” said Paragas.
These plans include executing the college’s vision under its new name, covering areas such as instruction, research and creative work, media and information literacy, personnel development, and public service, among others.
Meanwhile, CMC Student Council Chair Edelweiss Nazal hopes the college’s new name is not merely “performative” and will maintain the masses at its core.
“[I]t has to be indicative of the change and improvement that the college has to offer in terms of quality education, service, and community welfare,” Nazal said.
The council will continue its consultations, especially as the college’s dean selection process approaches.
“We will be consolidating all student concerns into the Maskom Agenda which we will be raising … to the nominees, college admin, and selection committee. Hindi natatapos sa college renaming ang pag-ensure na naririnig ang boses ng mga estudyante,” she added.