By: Akhmad Lazuardi Saragih
Recipient of Bank Indonesia Scholarship at Lambung Mangkurat University in 2000. The author also received the nickname as an Eternal Student at FISIP Unlam Campus.
UNIVERSITAS LAMBUNG MANGKURAT (ULM) is a state university based in Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan. The university was established on September 21, 1958 and inaugurated on November 1, 1960.
The university is named after Lambung Mangkurat, a patih from the Negara Dipa Kingdom who is integral to the history of the Banjar Kingdom in South Kalimantan.
On September 21, 1958, Lambung Mangkurat University (formerly abbreviated as Unlam, now abbreviated as ULM) was established with the President of the University (now rector) being Lt. Col. H. Hasan Basry, the Vice President was Abdul Wabab Syahranie, and the Secretary was Drs. Aspul Anwar.
The establishment of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) began with the foundation of the Kalimantan Commerce Academy with Notarial Deed Number 24 dated September 21, 1956.
The Kalimantan Commerce Academy (APK) was then established at the initiative of Milono as Governor of Kalimantan in 1957. APK itself was established with the aim of participating in the intellectual life of the nation, developing and disseminating science, technology and art.
Furthermore, on the initiative of community leaders and freedom fighters of the Republic of Indonesia in South Kalimantan, on March 3 – March 10, 1957, a reunion of the Indonesian National Army Lambung Mangkurat Division was held in Niih Village, Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency.
The reunion was aimed at commemorating the Proclamation of the Military Governor of ALRI Division IV Kalimantan, as well as discussing the development of the Kalimantan region. As a result, the meeting agreed on the formation of the Lambung Mangkurat Council, which among its work plans was to establish a university in Kalimantan under the name Lambung Mangkurat University.
In the middle of 1958, a Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of Lambung Mangkurat University was formed. And on September 21, 1958, the Committee was able to inaugurate the establishment of Lambung Mangkurat University (formerly abbreviated as Unlam, now abbreviated as ULM) with the University President (now, rector) being Lt. Col. H. Hasan Basry.
Meanwhile, the Vice President was Abdul Wabab Syahranie, and the Secretary was Drs. Aspul Anwar. At the beginning of its establishment, Lambung Mangkurat University was still private under the auspices of the Lambung Mangkurat Education Foundation which at that time was chaired by H. Maksid (Former Governor of South Kalimantan).
Initially Lambung Mangkurat University only consisted of the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Islamology, and B I and B II courses. With the establishment of Lambung Mangkurat University, the task of the Committee formed by the Lambung Mangkurat Council has ended and then handed over to the Lambung Mangkurat College Foundation.
Unlam itself was established with Notarial Deed Number 57 dated February 12, 1959. The handover was recognized by H. Maksid (Head of Daswati I South Kalimantan).
After running for approximately 2 years, the government of the Republic of Indonesia through Government Regulation Number: 41 of 1960 dated October 29, 1960, inaugurated Unlam as a State University on November 1, 1960 which was inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Teaching and Culture (formerly, now called the Ministry of Education and Culture).
At the time of the inauguration, Lambung Mangkurat University had four faculties, namely Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (then, now Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and Faculty of Agriculture. The Faculty of Agriculture itself was only established on October 3, 1961 in Banjarbaru.
The Faculty of Agriculture was established through a collaboration between the Lambung Mangkurat College Foundation and the Head of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Indonesia in Bogor (now Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)).
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Unlam today, welcomes a new dawn. Surely we do not want the dawn to start from a setback, let alone a prolonged crisis. It is an honor for the alma mater, an institution called a university if its intellectuals succeed in achieving the title of educated people who are idealistic and respectful of scientific ethics, so that they become true intellectuals and know their identity.
As a person who has been in the world of education with intellectuals, it is not appropriate to receive the symbol of honor from the academic degree in front and behind the name, if we are still writing black ink in the history of education.
We sincerely hope that the newly appointed university leaders will maintain the rhythm to prioritize the principles of good education.
This article does not intend to patronize, let alone criticize without solutions. Presumably the university leadership must realize that the love of some people for Unlam is not only because of the bond of academic symbols. But more than that, the love to jointly build the Unlam alma mater.
We only remind them that Unlam leaders have a great responsibility to the millions of generations who are still there and will enter Unlam to come to the forefront to answer the problems and challenges of an increasingly modern reality.
Implicitly by its founders, ULM aspires to be a driving factor of development (agent of development) in the Kalimantan region, both from the conception / insight of development and the provider of human resources.
For the ideals that are desired, the purpose of its establishment is that one day this university will become a pioneer in advancing higher education in Kalimantan in particular and Indonesia in general. Unlam is also nicknamed as the “University of Struggle”.
As a result, I congratulate us as holders of the throne of the alma mater. Also congratulations to all, whoever they are, who have inscribed gold ink on Unlam.
A big responsibility is in our hands, hopefully it can bring Unlam to become a leading university. Let us join forces together to welcome Unlam into one of the leading universities in the international arena. Insha-Allah…***
editor: Anang Fadhilah
