The Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL) (also as San Juan de Letran College (SJLC), Letran College (LC) or simply Letran), was founded in 1620. Letran is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. The Colegio was given Level 2 accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities in the Elementary department, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), the College of Business Administration (CBA), and the High School Department.
The name San Juan de Letran is derived from the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, considered as the Mother Church of Christendom. This name, in turn, was taken from that of the palace known as Palazzo Laterano, beside which it stands at the Piazza San Giovanni or Saint John Square in that SE of Rome location, a former Imperial Palace given by Emperor Constantine to the Pope in the early 4th century, which later served as official papal residence for over a thousand years.
The Colegio is owned and administered by priests of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) of the Philippine Dominican Province. The school has a rich and proud history and holds the distinction of having produced Philippine presidents, revolutionary heroes, poets, legislators, members of the clergy, jurists, and is the only Philippine school that has produced a Catholic Saint that actually lived and studied inside its original campus. The campus contains two statues, representing the two foremost alumni in the fields of secular and religious service: former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon and Vietnamese Saint Vicente Liem de la Paz.
Originally founded by Don Juan Geromino Guerrero in 1620, a retired Spanish officer, in Intramuros as Colegio de Niños Huerfanos de San Juan de Letran. The school was designed to educate and mold orphans to be good Christian citizens. Around the same time, Diego de Santa Maria, O.P. established Colegio de Huerfanos de San Pedro y San Pablo. As Don Guerrero grew old, the two schools were fused together, taking the name of Colegio de San Juan de Letran. In 1623, King Philip IV of Spain placed Letran under Royal protection.
After 60 years, Letran was declared an ecclesiastical college. A royal decree on May 1865 pronounced Letran as a "College of the First Class". Around this time, Letran was still a school exclusively for boys. During World War II, Letran suspended classes, and the school was changed into a Japanese garrison. After the war, Letran resumed operations. Several new construction projects were inaugurated to replace the old structures wrecked by the war.
The school began accepting female students in its college department in the 1970s while the grade school and high school departments started accepting female enrollees in June 2005.
Letran has programs in business education, humanities, information technology, communication arts and basic education, and has successful athletic programs, particularly in basketball, football, volleyball, taekwondo, and tennis. Through the centuries Letran has produced numerous athletes that have donned the national colors (especially in basketball) in international events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, Jones Cup, and FIBA World Championship.
In October 2007, two former Letran administrators were among the 498 Spanish martyrs beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. They are Fr. Jesus Villaverde Andres, OP, a former rector; and Fr. Antonio Varona Ortega, OP, a former professor and moderator of the NCAA Philippines.
Creed
"Soy una Letranista, y viviré para el Señor Dios, Patria y Letran" - "I am a Letranite and I will continue to live my days as one - for God, the Fatherland, and for my beloved Alma Mater."
"Soy una Letranista, y viviré para el Señor Dios, Patria y Letran" - "I am a Letranite and I will continue to live my days as one - for God, the Fatherland, and for my beloved Alma Mater."
Source: Wikipedia
