On October 14, 1966 the SCINTILLA JVRIS Fraternity was founded by fourteen (14) students of the University if the Philippines Diliman, College of Law. Driven by zeal of idealism, vision and courage of their generation they offered U.P. students a vehicle for expressing their dreams and aspirations as a Latin-named fraternity. Since then the SCINTILLA JVRIS Fraternity had become a great source of p
ride and honor to many students who joined its ranks. The founders chose the latin phrase as the name of the Fraternity because they wanted to become the spark that would change the fraternity system in U.P.. The founders also agreed that the name of the Fraternity should be written in capital letters, signifying equality among all the members of the Fraternity. The Fraternity as a general rule has removed categorical seniority as part of the brotherhood. Scintillans acknowledge that as brothers they are governed by respect among equals and not by virtue of precedence regardless of age or profession. The ‘60s where turbulent times in Philippine society; when the youth were rising up in protest against repressive structures of the state. Age-old dogmas, blindly followed for centuries were questioned for the first time. In keeping the spirit of the age, the founders of the Fraternity deliberately forged a path away from the rigid and hardened Greek lettered fraternities. The Fraternity’s Latin name evoked the glorious dawn of the Roman Empire rising triumphant from the twilight of the Greeks. As the only Latin-named fraternity from the University of the Philippines, it sparked changes and tried to eradicate some traditions that the other groups started. In time the Scintillan Spark spread to other colleges and universities, hence the establishment of other chapters. Seeking to maintain the quality of its members, the fraternity chose to recruit only from the College of Medicine and College of Law of the other universities. The UST Chapter was founded on September 14, 1974 by 14 Charter Members. Its founding members were initially spread among all undergraduate colleges in the University from Engineering, Pre-Law Courses such as Arts and Letters, Commerce, and Pre-med courses in Pharmacy, Science and Nursing, and several years later gained more strength as the Pre-med brods went to the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, further establishing our brotherhood in the Post-Graduate courses. In 1977, the UST SCINTILLA JVRIS Fraternity was officially recognized by the University of Santo Tomas as a Legal Fraternity in the University, and years after, in the 1980’s, officially recognized as a Fraternity exclusive only to the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Upholding the ideals of Rule of Law, Enhancement of the Medical Profession, Intellectual Integrity and Academic Excellence, the brothers swore not only to confine these principles in the fraternity but to propagate these ideals to all male students in the University. These are the reasons the Fraternity continues to recruit members into its ranks. The UST Chapter is also known in UST Med as the Fraternity who brought memorable concerts featuring bands like Eraserheads, Rivermaya and Acoustic Artists like Paolo Santos and Nina during the “Unplugged” Acoustic Concert and having the most number of Medical Missions every year. After 40 years, the SCINTILLA JVRIS Fraternity continues to mold hundreds of young, idealistic student doctors into God-fearing and morally driven leaders, specialists and healthcare professionals that would continue to share and live the ideals of the Fraternity.
