Last February 15, 2024, TomasinoWeb, the digital media organization of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), uploaded a photo album that showcased Thomasians wearing their “Type B” uniforms for the first time during this academic year. ICYDK, each college has its own “Type B” uniform that they wear during the summer.
One particular photo from the album, featuring two students from the College of Information and Computing Sciences (CICS) entering a branch of the convenience store 7-Eleven, was ordered to be taken down by the university’s Office for Student Affairs (OSA) because they believed that it had become a source of “public ridicule” towards the university.
In a report by The Varsitarian, the university paper mentioned how the CICS Type B uniform has drawn thousands of jokes and memes from netizens over the years, likening it to that of a 7-Eleven employee’s uniform.
After the photo had been taken down, TomasinoWeb issued a public statement, saying: “The organization was told that the photo has become a source of public ridicule toward CICS students, their College, and the University as a whole due to the supposed association of the CICS Type B uniform with the convenience store’s employee uniforms.”
“TomasinoWeb never intended to cause any harm to anyone. While we believe being a convenience store worker is honest work, we acknowledge that the photograph still caused a stir online, and for that, we sincerely apologize,” the statement read.
After TomasinoWeb published their official statement, netizens pointed out how “classist” the university seemed for asking the student organization to delete the photo.
Netizens React to UST Asking TomasinoWeb to Take Down the Photo of CICS Students in Their Type B Uniform
“Parang mas may mali sa kaisipan na ‘public ridicule’ ang maihalintulad sa employees ng isang convenience store,” commented one netizen.
“As an alumnus ng IICS (CICS now), I wasn't even offended. We got used to it kahit napagkamalan ako noon ng isang reporter ng GMA na kundoktor nung ininterview ako, cause I was wearing the engineering uniform at that time (under pa ng engineering ang lahat ng computer courses and wala pang IICS/CICS at that time). Good old times. But this is way too much conservatism unlike before,” said another.
Hey, Preview readers! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitter to stay up to speed on all things trendy and creative. We’ll curate the most stylish feed for you!
