In 2024, Universitas Terbuka (UT) celebrates its 40th anniversary. For four decades, UT has committed to fulfilling the government’s mandate to provide higher education services to every layer of society. In line with the theme of the 40th Dies Natalis, “UT Brings Education Without Limits,” UT continues to innovate and improve the implementation of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). On various occasions, UT’s Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., has consistently emphasized UT’s commitment to being an inclusive state university (PTN) that offers affordable access to higher education. This access is reflected in the programs of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, which includes Education, Research, and Community Service. One of the concrete actions taken by UT in the series of activities for the 40th Dies Natalis is the organization of a social service event.
To realize this activity, UT collaborated with the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation and MNC Peduli, both of which share a concern for social service. This time, the social service involved eye examinations and free distribution of eyeglasses to elementary school children around the Universitas Terbuka environment. The event took place offline on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at the Universitas Terbuka Convention Center (UTCC) at the UT Central Office, Pondok Cabe, Pamulang. The social service event was attended by 506 participants and graced by the presence of UT’s leaderships, including the Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., Vice Rectors, Deans, and other central leadership figures. The event also saw the attendance of Aziz Dailami, Head of Commercial Frame and Head of Trade Marketing, and Brandon Jovian Nigel, Assistant Manager, Technical – Corporate Mission from Essilor, as well as Tengku Havid, Head of CSR from MNC Group.
The series of events began with a report presentation by the General Chairperson of the 40th Dies Natalis Committee, Dr. Subekti Nurmawati, M.Si. In her presentation, she stated that this social service event is one of UT’s concrete actions to contribute directly to the community and provide benefits. The target participants of this activity were elementary schools around the UT Central Office environment, including SD Dharma Karya, SD Negeri Pondok Cabe Udik 01, SD Negeri Pondok Cabe Udik 02, SD Negeri Pondok Cabe Udik 03, SD Negeri Pondok Cabe Ilir 02, SDN Pisangan 02, and MI Assaadatuddawam. Interestingly, the activity also catered to 43 park staff members at the UT Central Office.
The next session was a speech by UT’s Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D. In his speech, he emphasized that UT, as a higher education institution, certainly implements the crucial points of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education. The implementation is not only focused on academic aspects or education but also includes community service activities that directly benefit the surrounding community. “Through this activity, it is hoped that it will benefit especially for the eye health of students so they can achieve outstanding results in their learning process,” he added. Prof. Ojat’s speech also officially opened the Social Service event in the context of the 40th Dies Natalis of UT.
In line with Prof. Ojat’s remarks, the leaders of the OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation and MNC Peduli also expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to serve and share, synergizing and contributing directly in this social service event. This sentiment was echoed by Aziz Dailami, Head of Commercial Frame and Head of Trade Marketing, and Tengku Havid, Head of CSR MNC Group. “Essilor is very concerned about dedicating itself to the community, especially regarding children’s eye health; this is proof of our contribution to the nation’s future generation,” asserted Aziz Dailami.
Tengku Havid, Head of CSR MNC Group, said that this collaboration with the OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation and Universitas Terbuka aligns with the MNC Peduli program. “MNC Peduli has many programs for social community activities. One of them is to realize an intelligent generation of the nation’s children,” concluded Havid.
“We are pleased to participate in this activity. Children are a very important asset in the country’s development, and good vision is crucial for their future. Therefore, eye examinations are conducted to detect vision problems. Hopefully, this can help,” concluded Aziz.
This social service event was carried out smoothly with the support of various parties, including experts from the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, the MNC Peduli team, the Universitas Terbuka Polyclinic team, and the Dies Natalis Committee. The successful organization of this social service event is a concrete manifestation of UT’s mission to conduct community service to empower and prosper the community through the application of science and technology.
