Announcements

Congratulations to the class of 2002..
Welcome to all the incoming freshman..

Are you a freshman?! If you are and are interested in the Philippine American League, then drop us a line at pal@rpi.edu

08.29.2001 - Activities Fair @ Houston Field House
09.03.2002 - PAL Mixer @ 8pm, Union Room 3606
10.25.2002 - F.I.N.D. Dialogue @ MIT. Click here for details.
11.03.2002 - International Festival

2002 Philippine American League

Motivation

PAL strives to:

• Promote unity and friendship among it's members.
• Promote and foster awareness of Filipino culture among its members as well as in the Rensselaer community.
• Provide social activities aimed at the Filipino and Rensselaer community.
• Promote and encourage mutual understanding among Filipino and other students on campus.
• Welcome new Filipino students to the Filipino community and adjust to life at R.P.I.

History

"Are you Filipino?"

I turned to face a heavy-set, curly haired Pinoy who had courageously approached me at a Freshman BBQ in the Quad. His name was Michael Mateo, and he was the earliest recollection I have of anyone in PAL. The year was 1994. Mike the club President was a senior looking for new faces and potential members. I told him more about myself and he made it a point to mention RPI’s Philippine American League, or PAL for short.

At the first meeting I was introduced to Pierre “PJ” Lota and Brian Suelto, two quiet guys who were on the club’s executive board at the time. I would find out later that they were responsible for writing and rewriting the bulk of the PAL Constitution in an attempt to get the club recognized by the RPI Union.

The League’s first three years (1993-1995) as a non-recognized club were challenging. A small but dedicated Filipino population on campus ensured that PAL was always represented at the annual International Festival- even if such representation meant a small booth and some Filipino food for sale. At this point, funds for any events and promotion came directly from the pockets of the executive board, and there were limitations to what the club could do on campus.

In 1996, the E-board was finally able to secure Union approval for the PAL Constitution. The E-board breathed a collective sigh of relief when PAL was presented with an annual budget, even if it barely cracked the three-figure mark. If we had been told just five years ago that the PAL budget would grow over 1000% by the year 2000, we would have been rolling on the floor. Well, nobody is laughing anymore.

From these early years up to the present day, PAL has been blessed with strong leaders who have used their supporting E-board successfully. Their efforts have been primarily focused on cultural awareness and the positive growth of the club. However, amidst all of the business matters, PAL takes pride in never losing its personal touch. Close ties between the E-board and the active membership ensure that those interested in leadership are pointed in the right direction and given responsibility early on. This helps to prepare these members for future executive board positions should they be elected to serve the club as such.

This proverbial “passing of the torch” is a key factor in the League’s ability to maintain consistency with the ideals outlined in its Constitution despite continuous and rapid expansion. This is a tall order for sure, but for a club that has survived years with zero funding and gone on to quintuple its active membership in the past six years alone, it should be no problem.

It would be easy to end here with this encouraging statistic, but in actuality the life of the Philippine American League at RPI has only just begun.

Arthur J. R. Go