The Pag-inunongay opening ceremony held at the Finster Auditorium last February 17 officially launched the week-long Festival of Excellence (FOE) 2018.

The event kicked off with performances from the Ateneo Repertory Company (ARC) wearing this year’s theme colors of black and gold.

Black symbolizes class and prestige which the event attaches to the Filipino culture and the diversified culture in Mindanao. Gold, on the other hand, symbolizes triumph, success, and excellence.

Songs were also rendered by the Awitenista finalists which were soon followed by the screening of the entries from the different clusters for Mugna: Short Film Competition. The films featured the life and struggles of the Lumad community.

After the screening of the short films was an inter cluster spoken word poetry competition to showcase the students’ ability to express, influence and appreciate spoken word performances in public.

Its aim was to use spoken word performances as a literary vehicle to inspire others to exemplify awareness of social issues concerning Mindanao.

The judges were artists Alfonso Manalastas, Louise Meets, and Reil Benedict Obinque.

The top spoken word poetry speakers came from the clusters of Humanities and Letters (HUMLET), Accountancy (ACC), and School of Engineering and Architecture (EA) who won the first, second, and third places respectively.

Winners of the competitions will be awarded at the Festival of Excellence Culmination Program on February 23.