Miriam College


Miriam College is a non-stock, non-profit Filipino Catholic educational institution for girls and young women in Quezon City, Philippines.
It offers academic programs from pre-elementary to post-graduate and adult education levels that develop the learning and caring competencies of students and are enriched by a wide range of national, regional, and international linkages. Although primarily a women’s school, its pre-elementary, graduate, adult education, and deaf education programs accept male students.

History

The history of Miriam College dates back to 1926 when Archbishop of Manila Michael J. O'Doherty requested the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic of Ossning, New York to initiate a teacher-training program for women in the Philippines. In an old remodeled Augustinian convent in Malabon, the Malabon Normal School was established. The school moved several times until 1953, when was officially renamed to Maryknoll College, and permanently settled on the eastern edge of Diliman in Quezon City.
A long period of stability and growth followed. Maryknoll College expanded its programs from training teachers to the formation of women leaders, thus a liberal arts college was developed. The school grew in student population, programs, services and reputation, achieving recognition as a school where academic excellence, communication skills, competence, individuality and social responsibility were developed in its students.
Its graduates have distinguished themselves in their professions. Several have been cabinet secretaries, legislators, accomplished businesswomen, entrepreneurs, educators and leaders of government and non-governmental organizations. To date, 19 alumnae have been selected as “The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service” awardees.
After the Second Vatican Council, the Maryknoll congregation began to evaluate its work in the light of their original apostolate as a missionary order. In the 1960s, the Maryknoll congregation saw the readiness of the Filipino laity to continue the education mission they had started. In 1977, the ownership and management of the school was turned over to lay administrators. In accordance with the agreement, the name Maryknoll was to be changed to pave the way for the promotion of the school’s unique identity, distinct although not disconnected from the identity of the Maryknoll sisters. In 1989, after a series of consultations, Maryknoll College was renamed Miriam College.
Miriam College stopped accepting male students at the collegiate level in 1999. The last batch of male students, who had entered the college in 1998, graduated in 2002, thereby making Miriam College an exclusive all-women's college. However, the preschool, adult education, graduate school, and deaf-mute education departments remain as co-educational and are still open to males.

Presidents

The first lay president and first female president of a Catholic college in the Philippines was Dr. Paz V. Adriano, who had been a student of the Maryknoll nuns. The second president was Dr. Lourdes Quisumbing, who later became the Secretary of Education under Corazon Aquino, the 11th President of the Philippines. The third was Dr. Loreta Castro; the fourth was Dr. Patricia B. Licuanan, who is currently the chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education. Dr. Rosario Oreta Lapus later served as president from 2010-2019. The current president is Ambassador Laura Quiambao-del Rosario, former Department of Foreign Affairs undersecretary and diplomat.

Campus facilities

Campus facilities include a modern, four-story LEAD Residence Hall for college students and guests, the Gallery of Women's Art featuring donated works from women artists, the Marian Auditorium for institutional events, the Little Theater for smaller events, the Mini-Forest Park, a chapel, Stations of the Cross, Library Media Center, and the Child Development and Day Care Center.

Miriam College Nuvali

Miriam College's satellite Nuvali campus was opened in 2014. A coeducational campus, it is located along Diversity Avenue corner Evoliving Parkway, Nuvali, Calamba, Laguna.

Notable alumni