De La Salle University 

(Filipino: Pamantasang De La Salle, Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also

known simply as De La Salle or La Salle and abbreviated as DLSU, is
a private, Catholic research university run by the De La Salle Brothers located in Taft
Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1911 as the De La Salle
College (DLSC) in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila with Br. Blimond Pierre FSC serving as first
director.[2] The educational institution moved to its present location in 1921 to facilitate
the increase in enrollment. The college was granted university status on February 19, 1975
and is the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), a network of 16 Lasallian
institutions established in 2006 to replace the De La Salle University System.[1][14][15]
The university started as a boys' elementary and high school. In 1920, it began offering a
two-year Associate in Arts Commerce program, which was later discontinued in 1931 in
favor of a Bachelor of Science in Commerce program.[16][17] DLSU currently
offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its seven
colleges and one school specializing in various disciplines, including business, engineering
and liberal arts.[18] Students and alumni from La Salle were previously referred to
as Lasallites, but the term has since been replaced with Lasallians.[19] The patron of the
university is St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers and all those who
work in the field of education.[20] He is also the founder of the De La Salle
Brothers and Lasallian educational institutions.[21]
DLSU is cited by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a Center of
Excellence in 14 of its programs, and a Center of Development in 5 of its programs.[22] The
university is also among the 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of
2010.[23] Likewise, it is the first of the only two institutions granted the highest-level
accreditation (Level IV) by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and
Universities (PAASCU).[1][24] The university is a member of several international
university associations, including the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and International
Association of Universities (IAU) as well as local organizations such as the South Manila
Inter-Institutional Consortium.[3][25]
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) currently ranks DLSU in the 801-1000 bracket of its World
University Rankings and 166th on its Asian University Rankings.[26] Times Higher
Education (THE) included De La Salle University in its 2019 edition of Times Higher
Education World University Rankings where DLSU was placed in the 801-1000 bracket,
which also marked the university's first appearance in the rankings.[27] It joined
the University of the Philippines Diliman as the only two universities in the Philippines to
enter the list,[28] and is the only private university from the Philippines to be included.
[29] DLSU also made its debut appearance on the Times Higher Education Asia University
Rankings in 2019, where it was placed in the 251-300 bracket.[30] Presently, De La Salle
University holds the distinction of being the lone Philippine private university to appear in
both the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University
Rankings.
Second World War and the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines (1942–1945)[edit]
A few hours before the Imperial Japanese Army forcibly took the "Open City" of Manila a
contingent of young La Salle boys led by a De La Salle Brother walked from Taft Avenue all
the way towards the pre-war Ateneo de Manila, Padre Faura campus, a school with whom it
shared a rivalry. During the initial outbreak of the invasion of Manila by the Japanese
Marines, several La Salle boys helped secure and save Ateneo's prized "Jesuit Bell" along
with several valuable Jesuit religious antiques just before the Japanese shock troops could
enter Manila and ransack the Jesuits' pre-war campus.
The American De La Salle Christian Brothers were interred in the Japanese Los Banos,
Laguna Prison for the duration of the three-year Japanese occupation of the
Philippines while the other non-American Brothers led by then-Brother President
Br. Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC and Br. Flavius Leo FSC, both from Ireland, were allowed by the
Japanese to stay in the Taft Campus.
Initially, the De La Salle campus served as a secret shelter for several displaced civilians,
wounded soldiers and Filipino guerilla fighters at the beginning of the Japanese occupation.
However, later on it was occupied by the Japanese forces, and was made into military
defense quarters on January 2, 1942.[16] Several repeated bombings severely damaged the
DLSC campus. Despite this, classes continued as the Christian Brothers taught on during the
Japanese occupation of Manila. During this time, several of the De La Salle boys along with
the Ateneo boys had to set their school rivalry aside and share their classrooms with each
other along with several other students from various neighboring schools. Several schools
in Manila had discontinued their operations and closed down due to the fall of Manila to the
Japanese invading forces. The DLSC high school classes were later on transferred to St.
Scholastica's College, Manila in 1943.[37][38]
The classes were eventually discontinued at the De La Salle campus. On February 1, 1945,
Japanese forces ordered the occupants of the DLSC and the surrounding vicinity to vacate
the college. However, Br. Egbert Xavier Kelly FSC refused the order to vacate. On February
7, 1945, he was abducted by Japanese soldiers, and was never seen again. He was believed
to have been mercilessly tortured and killed. On February 12 shortly after noontime, 20
Japanese soldiers came and forcibly barged into the DLSC campus and massacred 16 of the
17 De La Salle Brothers residing in the campus, along with 25 other residents.[16] Only one
De La Salle Brother (Antonius von Jesus) and 21 other civilians survived the tragic event.