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- The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2011. The agenda before the quadricentennial in 2011 included the introduction of new academic programs, improvements in the university's infrastructure, and other projects to raise UST's national and international prominence and promote its role as a social catalyst. Plans to open satellite campuses in Santa Rosa, Laguna and General Santos City are being put in place. Physical developments for the Sampaloc campus are ongoing. The Plaza Mayor in front the Main Building, the Quadricentennial Square which will feature the Tetraglobal sculpture, the Quadricentennial Fountain, and the Quadricentennial Alumni Walkway were constructed in 2006. To accommodate the needs of extra space for the growing number of student activities, the UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center was built in front of the Miguel de Benavides Library. The more than 80-year-old Main Building, and the artifacts and art works in the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, were placed under the preservation of the UST Heritage Conservation program in December 2008. The UST Benavides Cancer Institute, part of the five-year redevelopment plan and expansion of the UST Hospital for its 60-year celebration and the quadricentennial celebration, was established in 2006. Part of the university's infrastructure modernization is the construction of an P800-million, four-storey gymnasium capable of seating 5,792, designed by Thomasian architects José Pedro Recio and Carmelo T. Casas. University officials, led by Rector Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P., led its groundbreaking ceremonies in August 2008. The UST Publishing House in 2001 launched its quadricentennial project, "400 Books at 400!", publishing books in a range of disciplines, from theology to literature to medicine, written in both Filipino and English. (en)
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