Below is the text of the keynote address of outgoing Upsilon Sigma Phi Alumni Association (USPAA) Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Roel Z. Castro delivered during the 20th Biennial Congress of the Upsilon Sigma Phi held last February 8, 2025. The Congress had as its theme "Brothers for life, Mentors Forever."

Putting the Upsilon House in Order and Mentorship as Legacy

Our Most Illustrious Fellows, President Yari Miralao 88, my co-Trustees in the Board, Fellows in the Upsilon Sigma Phi – resident and alumni:

Good and a very pleasant morning to all.

It is with great honor that I welcome you to the 20th Congress—a gathering of minds and of purpose. We are here today not only to discuss our fraternity’s present and future but to also reaffirm the values that have made the Upsilon Sigma Phi an enduring institution of brotherhood, integrity, excellence, leadership, and service for 107 years.

Our theme, “Putting the Upsilon House in Order and Mentorship as Legacy,” speaks directly of the responsibilities we bear as fellows of this fraternity. It challenges us to ensure that our internal structures are sound and relevant, that our leadership remains strong, and that we actively cultivate the next generation of leaders who will continue the Upsilon legacy.

Though this Board tried to put the house in order to the best we could, I admit that there are many internal structures yet to be fixed as we have lived for the longest time based on traditions and practices alone. Word of mouth passed on from batch to batch, from decades to decades, and many of those words got lost along the way, interpreted in a new way, resulting in differing intentions over time.

Putting the Upsilon House in Order

A house, no matter how historic or prestigious, must be continually strengthened if it is to stand the test of time. The Upsilon Sigma Phi has been a pillar of leadership for more than a century—but leadership is not static, and neither is our fraternity.

We must be clear about what it means to “put our house in order.”

Ensuring Good Governance and Strong Leadership

Leadership in the Upsilon has always been about service, not entitlement. We must make sure that transparency, accountability, and strategic foresight define our governance.

We must ask ourselves: Are we structured in a way that enable our fraternity to thrive for generations to come? Are we positioning Upsilon to remain relevant in an ever-changing world?

Outgoing USPAA Chairman Roel Z.Castro turns over official documents and records of the USPAA to incoming Chairman Eric Pilapil.

Strengthening Our Finances and Sustainability

A well-run organization is one that is financially sound and operationally sustainable.

We need to secure and manage resources that will allow us to support our members, our initiatives, and our broader vision. This requires collective commitment - our time, our effort, and our resources.

During our term, we made sure that every centavo contributed by every fellow was recorded. We had to inherit the financial recordings of the previous Boards and accounted for all the contributions. And for transparency, our books are open to everyone wanting to have a look at it. Security protocols had to be installed to make sure our records don’t go to the wrong hands and eyes.

President Yari Miralao '88 will render the report on how our finances have grown to P65.5 million, directly and indirectly.

And lastly on this item of Finances, we consciously made a decision from the start of our term that we will not go on raffle nor massive solicitation because we wanted the Fellows to be spared from the pressure of either coughing out their own resources or soliciting again from the usual circle of friends and families. There is that term we call “donor fatigue” that we spared the fellows during our term.

So, for the next Term, baka hindi na pagod at fatigued ang mga Fellows!

Building Unity Across Generations

We are only as strong as the bonds between and among our members.

If we are to move forward as a fraternity, we must do so with cohesion and purpose, not division. We must ensure that our fraternity does not only exist as an organization but as a genuine brotherhood that remains engaged and supportive of its members.

We all know the cliché “that we all can agree to disagree”. That’s a very health way of being open minded on understanding the opinion of others. Even husband and wife married for 50 years do still disagree with each other every day, but the daily disagreement should not lead to divorce or breakup for the sake of the family! And this is very true for us in the Upsilon. In fact, we should promote diversity of opinion because this is the only way we can learn and grow but not to the point of fighting to divide our beloved Fraternity.

To one fellow I shared this, and I would like to share this with all you as well. Our motto is “We gather light to scatter!” But sometimes we unconsciously convert to “We gather fight and scatter!” Meaning, nakikipag away na tayo, nagkakalat pa!

But on a serious note, the reason why this Board enhanced and expanded the program of the previous board of mentoring is because we believed this is one effective way of molding, nurturing and guiding our younger generation of Fellows to what we expect them to be – to be consistent with our Traditions. Mentoring is such a great program and approach to bridge the complaints of the seniors that the juniors don’t know our Traditions anymore. Again, I firmly believe, we mentor them the way we guide and mentor our children. As parents, we just cannot complain and not do anything. Worse is we blame it to our wives. It must be a joint effort and shared responsibility of the parents to mentor our children the way we want to be. The same for us with our younger generation.

Mentorship as a Legacy

Brothers, if there is one thing that defines Upsilon, it is that we are a fraternity of leaders. But leadership is not just about being in positions of power—it is about passing on knowledge, experience, and wisdom.

We are all here today because, at some point in our lives, someone guided us. Someone saw our potential and helped shape us into the leaders we are now. That is the essence of mentorship. And it is now our turn to give back.

For Our Senior Brothers:

Our role is no longer just to lead—it is to prepare others to lead.

True mentorship is not about control; it is about empowerment. It is about making sure that the next generation is stronger, more capable, and more principled than we ever were.

For Our Younger Brothers:

You are the future of Upsilon. Learn from those who came before you. Seek mentorship with humility and purpose.

Leadership is not something you wait for; it is something you step up to. Take the initiative, take responsibility, and be worthy of the legacy that has been entrusted to you.

Institutionalizing Mentorship

Mentorship should not be left to chance—it should be an active and structured process in our fraternity.

We must create programs and traditions that ensure that every Upsilonian receives guidance and, in turn, becomes a mentor to others.

A Call to Action

Brothers today is not just about words—it is about action.

If we are to honor the legacy of Upsilon, we must make firm commitments:

To fortify our internal structures, ensuring that our fraternity remains well-governed and future ready.

To actively engage in mentorship, making it a defining part of Upsilonian culture.

To build unity among us, across generations, to ensure that our bonds remain strong and unbreakable.

The strength of Upsilon does not lie in the past—it lies in the choices we make today for the future.

Carrying the Torch Forward

In closing, I would like to make the following suggestions to the next set of the Board of Trustees:

On the internal structures, professionalize the management of the affairs of the Fraternity most especially the finances and records. In one of the Viber groups, it was mentioned that we are very weak in recordkeeping. And I agree with this 100%. There are many decisions made from one Board to the next and yet these decisions and even policies ratified in each Congress are not compiled into one centralized manual. It cannot be static; it has to be updated every time new policies and decisions are made.

On the acceptance of Fellows, although this is the affairs of the Residents, as parents or elders, we have to provide guidance to them. There is no substitute to wisdom and real wisdom can only come over time through our individual and collective experiences. And that is what we, parents and elders have over the younger generation.

And lastly, I appeal to please continue and expand the following programs:

The Mentorship Program.

The Upsilon Medical Assistance Program (UMAP) and the triage program. We have seen the many brothers and sisters and families benefit from this Program especially now that we have Brothers in advanced stage of their lives.

The Spread Light Program where we are able to give our time to ailing Fellows. To see them smile in the company of Fellows is the real picture of Brotherhood. Who knows it may be his last Fellowship with the Fraternity before he goes to eternity.

Maraming salamat sa inyong pag tiis sa aming term, sa aming pagkukulang or shortcomings, but if there is only one final word I can say, we in the Board all acted and decided for the betterment of our Fraternity. Not all Fellows are happy with our term, but we did everything for the betterment of our beloved Upsilon Sigma Phi.

Mabuhay ang Upsilon Sigma Phi!