From the beginning, the UPAA has been fired up by its mission of fostering Excellence, Service and Leadership, the sacred ideals of the Alma Mater. In 1986, then UPAA President Edgardo B. Espiritu said that “the university has established the tradition of being the main nursery of the nation’s leadership.” The alumni have become a force such that “the impact of the University on various aspects of national life may be felt mostly through that force.” Projects and programs of the UPAA seek to promote these ideals, at the same time encouraging unity and loyalty, as well as institution-building, among the alumni – in the process helping them to better serve their communities and the nation, not to mention pay back the Alma Mater.