Cavite State University

Cavite State University, also more known locally as Kabsu, is a public university in the province of Cavite in the Philippines. Its main campus, known as the Don Severino delas Alas Campus, is located in the Municipality of Indang, Cavite about southwest of Manila. The educational institution has twelve other campuses spread all over the province.
The school was established initially as an intermediate school by the Thomasites, a group of American teachers brought by the United States during the early part of the American colonial period to revamp the system of education in the country. By 1964, the school has grown into a college known as the Don Severino Agricultural College. It became a university on January 22, 1998, and was renamed as the Cavite State University.
The Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines recently conferred the award to Cavite State University as top performing state university during the annual national conference held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, Cebu City, 7 – 9 March. In 2016, CvSU was also recognized as one of the top ten performing State Universities and Colleges in accreditation, capturing the rank 7 spot. The university is also one of the top three performing schools in the criminology program in the country.
Since then, the university has grown offering 141 programs in the undergraduate and graduate levels. It has more than 44,000 students and almost 1,700 faculty and staff from eleven campuses at the end of academic year 2020-2021.

History

The state university was first established by the Thomasites as an intermediate school, named Indang Intermediate School in 1906 with C.E. Workman its first principal. Subsequently, Americans Henry Wise and Joseph Coconower succeeded Workman as the school's principal. In 1915, the school had its first Filipino principal, Mariano Mondoñedo. The school's focused on vocational agriculture for boys and domestic science for girls. In 1918, the name of the school was changed to Indang Farming School.
As enrollment increased, the school site was expanded through the land donations of the citizens of Indang, including Francisco Ocampo and Don Severino de las Alas, Secretary of Interior during the Aguinaldo cabinet. In 1927, the school was renamed Indang Rural High School, during the incumbency of principal Simeon Madlangsakay. It first offered a secondary courses in vocational agriculture in 1923 and Home Economics in 1927.
In recognition of the generosity of Don Severino de las Alas to the community, the province of Cavite and the nation, the name of the institution was changed to Don Severino National Agricultural School in 1958 by a congressional action.

Don Severino Agricultural College

The agricultural school was converted into a state college in 1964 by virtue of Republic Act No. 3917. Under this Act, the school was given its own charter and became known as Don Severino Agricultural College.
In 1967, Santiago M. Rolle was appointed as the first college president. In 1971, Certificate in Technical Agriculture was offered. Dr. Sotero L. Lasap designed a new logo for DSAC in 1978. Its shape is like a spaceship supposed to symbolize carrying DSAC to its desired destination.
During the preparatory stage from 1983-1987, Dr. Ruperto S Sangalang became the officer-in-charge of the college.
The transition stage from 1988-1992 strengthened the instructional, research and extension programs through the implementation of the Institutional Development Assistance and Cooperation Project.

Elevation to University and Expansion

Name	Position	Period
Vicente G. Hicaro	Dean and Officer-in-Charge	1965-1967
Santiago M. Rolle	Acting President	1967-1971
Vicente G. Hicaro	Officer-in-Charge	1970-1971
Vicente T. Pinazo	President	1972-1983
Dr. Ruperto S. Sangalang	President	1983-2008
Dr. Divinia C. Chavez	President	2008-2016
Dr. Hernando D. Robles	President	2016–2024

Following a campaign period from 1993 to 1998, the school became a university on January 22, 1998, by virtue of the Republic Act No. 8468 and was renamed the Cavite State University, elevating its four schools into colleges. Dr. Sangalang served as the first university president, a position he will hold until 2008.
In 2002, Cavite College of Fisheries in Naic and Cavite College of Arts and Trade in Rosario were integrated into the Cavite State University system to become the CvSU College of Fisheries and the CvSU College of Arts and Trade, respectively. The Cavite City campus was launched in 2001, and Carmona campus followed in 2002. Subsequently, new campuses were established in other parts of the province, namely, Imus, Trece Martires, Silang, and Tanza.
In 2008, Dr. Divinia Chavez from the College of Education succeeded Dr. Sangalang as the President of the university. She is also the first woman to hold the position. Under her leadership, campuses were established in Bacoor, General Trias and Maragondon.
Dr. Hernando Robles, former Campus Administrator of CvSU Naic, assumed the role of the University President in 2016. The newest campus, CvSU Dasmariñas Learning Center was established in 2023.

Campuses

Campus	Former names	Date established	Location	Enrolment	Website	Notes
Cavite State University - Don Severino de las Alas Campus	Indang Intermediate School Indang Farm School Indang Rural High School Don Severino National Agriculture School Don Severino Agricultural College	1906	Indang	17,581	www.cvsu.edu.ph	Elevated to university status in 1998
Cavite State University - Naic	Cavite College of Fisheries	1961	Naic	1,313	www.cvsu-naic.edu.ph	integrated into CvSU 2002
Cavite State University - CCAT Campus	Cavite College of Arts and Trade Cavite State University Rosario Campus	1969	Rosario	3,357	www.cvsu-rosario.edu.ph	integrated into CvSU 2002
Cavite State University - Cavite City		2001	Cavite City	2,339
Cavite State University - Carmona		2002	Carmona	2,303
Cavite State University - Imus	College of Business and Entrepreneurship	2003	Imus	4,583	www.cvsu-imus.edu.ph
Cavite State University - Trece Martires		2005	Trece Martires	1,148	www.cvsu-trececampus.com
Cavite State University - Silang		2006	Silang	3,175
Cavite State University - Tanza		2007	Tanza	601
Cavite State University - Bacoor		2008	Bacoor	2,814
Cavite State University - General Trias		2012	General Trias	1,226
Cavite State University - Maragondon		2015	Maragondon	n/a		only offers basic education from pre-elementary to Grade 10
Cavite State University - Dasmariñas City Learning Center		2023	Dasmariñas	n/a

Don Severino delas Alas Campus, Indang

Indang is the main campus of the university. Known as the Don Severino delas Alas Campus, it sits on 72 hectares of rural land and is the oldest campus of the university. This campus houses academic, administrative, and research and extension facilities. There are also a few residential and commercial buildings in the campus. The main offices for the entire university is also situated here.
The university's main library is called the Ladislao Diwa Memorial Library and Museum. Established in 1980, it has now grown to house around 92,000 volumes of books and more than 5,000 series titles such as magazines and newsletters.

''Laya at Diwa'' Monument

The Laya at Diwa brass artwork displayed at the main entrance to the Indang campus is meant to represent the university's vision of "truth, excellence and service". The monument is a creation of Jonnel P. Castrillo of Imus, Cavite. It was inaugurated on December 15, 2006, by Senator Edgardo J. Angara during the university's centenary celebration.
The artwork has five major elements. The first is the unchained female figure, holding a book, her arms interlocked with the male figure. The male figure holds a pen and a torch. The flame of the torch carries the letters CvSU for Cavite State University. Finally, the child figure, in a dynamic pose atop the pillar behind the male & female figure, reaches out a dove, the universal symbol peace and freedom.

Imus campus

Formerly known as the College of Business and Entrepreneurship, CVSU Imus was established in 2003. It is located along Aguinaldo Highway in Palico IV. It occupies the plot of land that was set to become the Cavite Convention and Trade Center, but was transferred to the university for use as a satellite campus. As of 2023, it has nine academic departments offering 11 degree programs.

Silang campus

The Silang campus was built in 2006 when the municipal government of the town donated land to the university. Several buildings, including three academic buildings and a gymnasium, were built on a 5,000 square meter plot of land. As of 2023, the campus has four academic departments offering eight degree programs.