CPU at 120: A Century of Faith, Leadership, and Education
On October 1, 2025, Central Philippine University marked a landmark 120th founding anniversary, a moment to reflect on the people and principles that sustained the university through wars, transitions, and growth. The celebration honors a lineage of visionaries, including Rev. Dr. Joseph Morris Rickey Forbes, a missionary whose work spanned India, war-ravaged Burma, and the halls of Central Philippine College. Forbes embodied the blend of resilience, practical leadership, and commitment to Christian education that defined CPU in its early postwar years and continues to inspire today.
From California to Assam: A Scholar-Missionary’s Path
Born on December 3, 1903, in San Diego, California, Joseph Morris Rickey Forbes enjoyed a solid education that laid the groundwork for a life in service. After earning a BA from the University of Redlands and divinity credentials from Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, he pursued advanced studies in theology and social thought. His path led him across continents as he joined the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, accepting a role that would shape both his vocation and the institutions he would touch.
Forbes and his wife Leila Rosalie Gibbs-Forbes arrived in Assam, India, in 1930. There, he played a dual role as teacher and administrator at the Jorhat Bible School, guiding minds while learning from a rich cross-cultural environment. His years in India fostered a grounding in the dignity of labor, the value of rigorous study, and a philosophy of mission that valued practical work alongside theoretical learning.
War, Refugees, and Spiritual Leadership
The Second World War brought urgent ministry to new frontiers. With his family returning to the United States for safety in 1942, Forbes remained in the region to aid refugees fleeing Burma after the Japanese invasion. He worked among displaced peoples in Nowgong, Sibsagar, and Gauhati from 1942 to 1945, offering relief, comfort, and Christian witness amid hardship. Those years forged the resilience and compassion that would later inform his postwar leadership in Iloilo.
Arrival in Iloilo and the Postwar Rebuilding
Following the war, Forbes and his family were reassigned to the Philippines, arriving on June 19, 1947. He immediately recognized the need for robust Christian education in a country rebuilding after occupation. His wife joined the CPU High School Department, and their children enrolled in CPU schools, anchoring the family in the university community and signaling a deep, lived commitment to CPU’s mission.
Acting President (1947–1950): A Leader in Transition
On September 19, 1947, Forbes became Acting President of Central Philippine College, inheriting the arduous task of rehabilitating war-damaged facilities, reshaping administrative structures, and restoring faculty morale and finances. Described by colleagues as an “indefatigable worker” and “a man of action,” Forbes led by example—often working alongside laborers, laying stones, mowing lawns, and clearing debris. His insistence on practical discipline, echoed in his chapel exhortation to students to “THINK,” underscored a philosophy of education that connected critical thinking with real-world application.
Educational Philosophy: The Dignity of Labor and Critical Thought
Forbes emphasized that education should cultivate both mind and hands. He urged students to identify the central ideas in lectures and build their learning around them, a method that bridged theory with practice. This approach reflected a broader ethic within CPU—one that valued character, leadership, and service as integral to academic excellence. Faculty and students alike remember his warm, approachable manner and his habit of greeting people with genuine care.
Legacy Beyond the Presidency
Beyond his administrative duties, Forbes taught in the College of Arts and Sciences (1947–1953) and chaired the Department of Social Sciences (1951–1953). He advised the Central Echo and led campus campaigns that supported student welfare. After six years in Iloilo, he returned to the United States in 1953 but remained connected to CPU through ongoing collaboration with American churches and theological institutions. His legacy lives on through the J. Morris Forbes Memorial Scholarship Fund, established by the First Baptist Church of Berkeley in 1981 to support CPU’s College of Theology, and through later recognitions that honored his dedication to Christian education and leadership development.
CPU’s 120th Milestone: Remembering a Leader for All Time
The 120th anniversary of Central Philippine University offers a moment to remember Forbes not only as a former Acting President but as a symbol of the dignity of labor, the power of faith-based education, and the transformative effect of resilient leadership. His call to “THINK” remains a guiding thread in CPU’s ongoing mission to nurture leaders of faith and integrity for the Philippines and the world.
