In a recent Investiture Committee meeting wherein plans were presented to Mrs. Luningning T. Estanislao, Chairperson and Dr. Aristotle T. Malabanan, President, the idea of developing an MCU icon as creative handle for merchandising materials was brought up.

     Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and medicine, was the unanimous choice.

     The image of Minerva first came about when the administration led by Atty. Filemon D. Tanchoco, the MCU founder and first President, developed a school logo. With the school motto In Scientia Solidaritas or solidarity in science, Minerva holding aloft a torch and standing on a skull was composed.

     For over a hundred years the Minerva icon on the MCU logo best depicts the University core value that is to continuously provided quality education and health care to people and do our share in improving their lives, especially to our fellow Filipinos.

     Minerva was the Roman name of Greek goddess Athena. She was considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, and the inventor of music.

     The name ‘Minerva’ may come from the Indo-European root 'men', from which ‘mental’ and ‘mind’ are also derived.

     Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter and Metis. As 'Minerva Medica', she was the goddess of medicine and doctors.

     Adapting Greek myths about Athena, Romans said that Minerva was not born in the usual way, but rather sprang fully armed from the brain of her father. This image has captivated Western writers and artists through the ages.

     Ovid called her the ‘goddess of a thousand works.’ Minerva was worshipped throughout Italy; though only in Rome did she take on a warlike character. Minerva is usually depicted wearing a coat of mail and a helmet, and carrying a spear.

     As patron goddess of wisdom, Minerva frequently features in statuary, an image on seals, and in other forms, at educational establishments

     Reference: Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Mythica

      MCU FDT Learning Resource Center (LRC) is a state-of the-art structure strategically designed to give the best amenities of a modern learning facility, with the primary objective of enhancing the academic performance of every MCU student and achieve excellence in their respective pursuits.

     This structure is not a stand alone library, but rather a hub of synergized learning resources combined into one (1). Though the dominant spaces were allocated for the University and Medical Library with a total functional area of 8,879 sqm., and is intended for a sophisticated Reserve, Circulation, Reference, Periodical, Technical and Filipiniana Sections, this modern hub also contains the same services for Elementary and High School Library and a complete array of support educational amenities, tailor made for in-depth and serious learning

     Its student-to-table and student-to-carrel ratios are considered one of the best ratios ever established in a learning institution. The huge On-line Public Access Catalog (OPAC) was designed to give the students the best comfort for an easy, fast and precise access to the much needed textbooks / references at any given time using the vast capacity of MCU information highway.

     Engr. Danilo M. Ferrer , (President of D.M. Ferrer and Associates) the Project Manager of the LRC project proudly exemplifies, that the traffic and access system in this facilities was designed to enjoy every part of LRC at the least time using proximity and time-motion analysis. Hence, going to Circulation and Reserve Section, or transferring to Periodicals and Reference Sections, then getting the best seat for a deep study mode, or even getting a photocopy of your research will always be an enjoyable journey.

     The highlight of FDT LRC Building is the inclusion of the following learning facilities which differs the same from other universities:

• Comfortable Hi-tech Auditorium which has the capacity to house a huge 460 guests and the capability of projecting the best audio visual presentation using THX video system and a 7.1 audio system.


• Refreshing Alfresco Study Area in the second floor, designed to depict the ambiance of modern coffee shops applied in a deeper study mood.


• Acoustically treated Discussion Rooms that were designed to handle high decibel open discussion, necessary to alleviate confrontational but healthy debate in order to attain leadership level of every student.


• Fast internet connections with one hundred and twenty computer units will be available at the Computer laboratory inside the LRC.


• Inter-active On-line Public Access Catalog (OPAC), which can handle 50 students in a simultaneous use.


• Generous Fully Air Conditioned Reading Area, which was designed to encourage deeper and more aggressive study habits thru comfortable carrels, tables and sofas, strategically designed to handle long and serious stay.


• Spacious Open Reading / Congregating Area located at the ground floor designed to encourage interactive congregation during slack time of students.


• An Array of Multi Function Rooms, designed to handle multiple discipline functions on a simultaneous or random schedule, and has the capability of an inter-active telecommunication projection to all parts of the hub. This series of rooms can also be converted into single huge function area by simply disengaging the movable partitions and allow the rails to guide them in a well kept partition cove.


• Enchanting Museum that was designed to magnify and treasure the splendid moments of the 105 years of Manila Central University in the Philippines securing the most important and oldest documents of the institution from 1904 to present

     The focal point of this unique structure is the Hall of Excellence, which was inspired by a Guggenheim form of art applied on a winding helical auditorium / museum called “Helix” , to be used for a routine in-depth motivational pep-talk with the students, while an array of personal achievement replicas of all successful MCU Achievers were displayed on a winding and captivating locations designed to encourage the students to do the same…TO EXCEL.

     Every step of the students within the Helix is a journey of time and space, subconsciously encouraging them to perform more and study harder, while developing the mind-set of a typical achiever, as portrayed in the replica of each MCU Achievers proudly mounted within.

     With great pride and high spirit of the working team, the entire LRC project will be ready for use on the 2nd semester of School Year 2009-2010.