If SUC administrations spent half as much energy protecting student rights as they do practicing the art of the obligatory digital ass-kiss, our school facilities wouldn't be falling apart at the seams.

Instead, look at the official social media feeds of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) nationwide, and they are an absolute circus. The exact second a new politician wins a dirty game of musical chairs in the Senate and takes over the committee on higher education, SUC administrations scramble to post these beautifully laid-out graphics showering them with praises.

It is a predictable, pathetic routine of institutional opportunism, and it’s giving me secondhand embarrassment.

Even my very own university, for example, went so far as to publish a graphic prominently featuring the university president’s face right next to the newly appointed chair, Joel Villanueva.

Of course, other state universities didn't want to look less submissive, so they went ahead and pasted their entire executive board across their congratulatory posts.

It looks less like a greeting from an educational institution and more like a desperate squad of influencers begging a celebrity for a follow-back. And their defense is always the same: “It's just a protocol.”

Such an obvious lie. I never saw an SUC roll out this same digital red carpet, curated graphics, and public worship when a new student regent joins the board.

They just love barking up the right tree to secure a political patron who holds the budget-printing machine.

What makes this forced worship truly disgusting is the baggage of the person they are bowing to. SUC leaders are tripping over themselves to praise Villanueva’s background in vocational education but they completely delete the darker side of his record.

Have they conveniently forgotten his heavy involvement in the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam, where the Ombudsman previously ordered his dismissal over the alleged misuse of 10 million pesos in public funds?

Aggressively celebrating a scandal-ridden politician just shows the true colors of our academic leaders. They don't value ethical leadership; ALL IS FOR POLITICAL SURVIVAL.

Such a sickening double standard on our campuses drives me insane.

I remember what happened to the CSU Communicator last year. When student journalists try to write about actual issues or take a stance, the administration completely panics. The higher-ups will literally order the immediate removal of articles, demanding that writers delete their posts and advising them not to interfere because student journalists shouldn't be political.

Let that contradiction sink in.

Student journalists are ordered to shut up and stay neutral under the threat of administrative censorship because being political is apparently a sin. Meanwhile, the university officials are actively using the institution’s official platform to suck up to traditional politicians.

This cringe, non-stop praise machine reduces higher education to a sad, scripted reality show. The names change depending on who won the latest political brawl in the Senate, but the script of administrative submission remains completely identical.

It's just ironic to run an institution that grades students on critical thinking and defiance while the leadership practices the fine art of dropping to its knees the moment authority walks into the room.

If our SUC leaders refuse to stand up to suspicious politicians, they should at least stop forcing the rest of the campus to watch them kneel.

The Frontman