The University of Santo Tomas Press and Its Shift from Spanish to English1

In 1611 the Dominicans in the Spanish colonial Philippines established a collegeseminary that is now known as the University of Santo Tomas. For the next three hundred years until the first two decades of the 20th century the medium of instruction was Spanish. The University operated a printing press that served the needs not only of the school but also of the Dominican order and other institutions besides. Because of its various patrons the University Press ran publications in different languages, which in the last decade of Spanish rule (1890-1898) included not only Spanish and Latin but also Greek, French, and various Filipino languages. In 1898 the Philippines was sold by Spain to the United States of America, and the first English manuals, with corresponding Spanish and Tagalog texts, began to be printed in Manila in this year. The University, which remained in Spanish hands, now faced the challenge of an ever-growing English-speaking studentry. Eventually, the rector made the tough decision that English be the language of instruction in all classes and laboratories beginning with the academic year 1924-1925.This article attempts to show how the Philippines, and the Dominicans in Asia's oldest university in particular, confronted the change from Spanish to English through the publications of the University of Santo Tomas Press. The University Press printed an outline of examinations which showed that at least by 1893 English was being taught; in this case, at the Dominican-run secondary school of San Juan de Letran.