The Association of Registered Student Organizations (ARSO), in partnership with the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and the University Center for Gender and Development (UCGAD), launched HUGYAW: The 2023 ARSO Days through a five-day activity at Central Mindanao University on April 3–4 and 11–13, 2023.
The HUGYAW: The 2023 ARSO Days was a celebration for student leaders anchored on the theme “Celebrating CMUan Excellence; Advancing CMUan Leadership.” It was to provide a platform for all student leaders to showcase their talents, skills, and creativity.
In an interview, Mr. Anthony Ceasar N. Jabla, ARSO President, said that HUGYAW: The 2023 ARSO Days was for the student leaders at Central Mindanao University to participate in sports and other recreational and entertainment activities.
The said event aimed to nurture camaraderie, sportsmanship, and teamwork among student leaders and allow them to enjoy the week-long activity. “…for them to practice or to have camaraderie among other student leaders and, of course, to acquaint themselves with other officers and different organizations,” he added.
Moreover, the HUGYAW: The 2023 ARSO Days aimed to equip the student leaders to become champions for gender equality and gender empowerment; “hopefully, we could have a gender and development committee in all of the organizations here at CMU,” Mr. Jabla asserted.
As part of championing gender equality, ARSO plans to implement gender-related activities in the next ARSO Days. This was discussed during the ARSO Congress, where all the chairpersons of the organizations gathered to look for ways to embed gender and development among the student leaders.
Furthermore, ARSO approved the proposal for the institutionalization of the gender and development committees for all members of the organizations. Mr. Jabla further explained that the committee would serve as a gender and development focal person to represent the students and provide activities for the students in terms of gender and development.
The event’s activities included Floral Parade, Mass Dance Competition, Friendship Games, the ARSO Congress, Seminar on Urinary Tract Infection, a Symposium on Teenage Pregnancy and Reproductive Health, Premarital Sex among first-year students, and the Search for Drag Superstar.
One thousand eight hundred student leaders from different organizations participated in the HUGYAW: The 2023 ARSO Days. [Mary Jane D. Bravo]