In 1970, the long succession of American rectors was broken when Fr. Leo D. Ortiz, SVD was appointed as the first Filipino president of the school. Fr. Ortiz organized the Academic Council along with other functional committees to go with the time for reforms and changes.  Also organized were the salary and the student affairs committees. Fr. Ortiz also started the implementation of programs for faculty development.

By the late 70s, DWCT already felt real congestion in the main campus.  The time had come for it to expand.  It was its second president, Fr. Teodoro P. Gapuz, SVD who led the search for a new and bigger area for campus expansion.  He found it in Dampas, an outlying district – a 7.2 hectare property that in 1982 would see a new building rise in the middle of wild brushland and open country.  In October of the same year, the High School Department transferred here in a campus named Janssen Heights.  Fourteen years later, other departments would be relocated here.

Fr. Romeo P. Bancale, SVD took the helm of administration after Fr. Teodoro P. Gapuz, SVD starting school year 1984-1985.  During his term, Divine Word College was granted Level I accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), for the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Teachers’ College, and the College of Commerce.  This Level I status was awarded to these three colleges starting SY 1984-1985 up to SY 1986-1987.  Fr. Bancale led the school in obtaining re-accreditation for five years from SY 1987-1988 to SY 1992-1993, this time on Level II accredited status with the same accrediting agency.

In 1993, when Fr. Florante S. Camacho, SVD became the sixth president of DWCT, he started in earnest the effort to apply for university status. To prepare the school for this eventuality, Fr. Camacho reorganized and strengthened the Research Center, worked for partnerships and linkages with outside institutions, such as the Ateneo Social Weather Stations and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as with the Provincial Government of Bohol.  Conscious of the school’s crucial role in community development, Fr Camacho also established in 1997 the Office of Cultural Affairs and Development to spearhead cultural development not just in campus but also with the wider community outside.

Significant strides were also made in the school’s quest for excellence.  During Fr. Camacho’s second term of office in school year 1996-1997, two engineering programs were opened: computer, and electronics and communications engineering.  Computer Science was made a separate college not anymore attached to the College of Commerce.  There were then eight collegiate departments of the school, namely Arts and Sciences, Education, Commerce and Accountancy, Engineering, Nursing, Computer Science, Law, and the Graduate School.

The Graduate School also expanded its programs.  Ph.D. in Education, major in Educational Management got its government recognition in 1998.  More fields of concentration were added to the master’s program.

In 1996, the administration decided to construct a two-storey building in the new school site, Janssen Heights, Dampas District dedicated to the memory of Fr. Joseph Bates, SVD, one of the pioneer administrators of then Holy Name College. This was first used by the Elementary Department and the College of Education. By school year 1999-2000, the elementary building accommodated the College of Education and the College of Engineering.

DWCT’s enrollment reached its peak in school year 1997-1998, the golden Jubilee year.  The highlight of Fr. Camacho’s second term of office (1996-1999) was the Golden Jubilee Celebration in August 1997.  It was a well-attended and well-applauded week-long affair which included such memorable activities as the reunion of former and current teachers and employees, and the culmination of the year-long search for outstanding alumni.  The golden jubilee parade was the most colorful in DWCT’s history.  The alumni homecoming brought together young and not-so-young graduates from practically all over the Philippines and abroad.

The Administration made an earnest effort for DWCT’s quest for university status on January 29, 1996 when the application for change of status was submitted to the CHED.  By October 1996, the CHED sent a team to assess the school’s readiness for conversion to a university status. Among the stringent recommendations of CHED was the need for the school to acquire Level III accredited status. Also emphasized was the improvement of faculty academic qualifications and the involvement of the faculty and staff in research and community extension. 

The story of Holy Name University is, of course, not all about buildings and recognition of courses.   It also tells about the devotion, loyalty, sacrifices, and successes of its faculty, students, administrators, and the entire Holy Name University Community.  It is a story of high achievement.

Graduates of the College of Education obtained high passing rates in board examinations for teachers.  The average passing rate for five years from 2010-2015 exams in the elementary and secondary levels is 49.75% and 46.67% while that of the national level is 29.33% and 31% respectively. In 2000, Jean Cuadra Cañete got the 4th place and in 2001, Jose Pabalan III got the third place. Jaremilleta Arawiran capped the 5th place in the 2003 exam, Janess Marie C. Encarnado 7th place in 2007, and  Maria Jane Ebua  8th  in 2010. More examinees topped the examination for teachers in the succeeding years –  Vanessa Marie Baygan in April 2011;  Gracellie R. Laroda in September 2011; and  Josephus Anthony C. Buma-at in September 2012. In the March 2013 examination, HNU made its landmark achievement when four of the examinees topped –  Christine Abigail P. Andoy,  Rez Guiller A. Ongcoy,  Charito M. Sayson and  Creslie Jean D. Palanca got the 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 10th places respectively. The achievement was repeated in the March 2015 examinations when Flora Mae M. Batausa and  Jofel M. Butron emerged as 5th and 9th placers respectively.

In February 1999, the accredited colleges of the school were again subjected to the formal survey for PAASCU reaccreditation.  By August 1999 Level II re-accredited status was again granted to DWCT to last to the second semester of 2004 or for a period of five years.

The administration lost no time in applying for the Level III accredited status.  The papers were sent to the PAASCU Office in October 1999.  By May 2000, PAASCU granted DWCT the much sought after Level III accredited status, a significant step towards achieving university status.  Still in the quest for quality education, the university subjected itself for Level IV accreditation by PAASCU and it was granted in 2012 to six baccalaureate degree programs.

The SVD Fathers continued to give emphasis to faculty development and the improvement of facilities.   A ten-year development plan was submitted to the CHED as part of the documents required for university status.  By September 2001, the CHED released the list of 32 higher education institutions in the Philippines granted full autonomy and DWCT was one of them.  The status was again granted to Holy Name University in 2015 by the same Commission.

This development was a prelude to the much-awaited and long-sought university status.  On November 19, 2001 Divine Word College of Tagbilaran (DWCT) was granted university status.  To underscore continuity and commitment to its original ideals, the name Holy Name University was unanimously adopted to banner the school’s progressive march to the future.

More courses and major fields were opened with the granting of autonomy and university status. The College of Education offered new programs like Guidance and Counseling, Pre-elementary Education, Special Education and Values Education.  BS in Hospitality Services Management was opened under the College of Commerce with the Hotel and Restaurant management as the first major field.

In school year 2003-2004 new courses were offered, BS Criminology, B.S. in Information Management and BS Psychology.  Mass Communication program was opened in the College of Arts in Sciences. The graduate school also offered Master of Arts in Philosophy.  Another major field, Tour and Travel Management was opened in the BSHSM program.

In a span of four school years, additional programs were offered: Master of Library Science, Masters of Arts in Nursing, Bachelor of Elementary Education major in Special Education.  The need of more allied health programs prompted the university to offer Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology in 2013, which garnered a 100% passing percentage in the licensure examination for its first batch of graduates in August 2017 and more than 90% passing percentage in the succeeding board examinations.

The administration, in its pursuit for quality education, constructed two school buildings in SY 2003-2004 and SY 2006-2007 at the Janssen Heights campus, Freinademetz building which is home to the College of Nursing and the Scanlon building, for the College of Arts and Sciences respectively. State-of-the-art laboratory equipment are found in the two buildings, which facilitate the teachers’ and students’ teaching-learning process.

In June 2005, Fr. Ernesto M. Lagura, SVD took over the leadership of the university taking the place of Fr. Florante S. Camacho, SVD. It was during the term of Fr. Lagura, SVD as university president, when the Scanlon Building for the CAS was constructed. Renovations took place in the College of Law, like the improvement of the Dean’s Office, construction of the HNU Law Center, the transfer of the Law Library to the third floor; and the faculty room for the law professors.

It was also during the presidency of Fr. Lagura that the Civil Engineering Program was granted Level I PAASCU accreditation in 2006.

A joint project Water Assessment Testing, Education, Research Support Services (W.A.T.E.R.S.S.) of the Australian Government and Holy Name University through the provincial government of the Province of Bohol was materialized in February 12, 2008.

Holy Name University as an institution of high learning highly recognized its genuine partnership with the CHED. In March 2007, the university submitted the documents to the CHEDRO for the renewal of the autonomous status and was granted a one-year autonomous status from November 2007 to November 2008. In September 2007, HNU with the concerted effort of the academic community members, prepared the documents for Institutional Quality Assurance Monitoring and Evaluation (IQUAME). All documents were submitted to the CHED Main Office Manila and the CHED Regional Office.

In 2008, Fr. Francisco T. Estepa, SVD was installed as third President since the school became a university in 2001.  He would occupy this post  for the next 12 years during which period the school saw a lot of developments, changes and challenges. 

First and foremost, Fr. Estepa worked for the continuation of the autonomous status HNU has been enjoying in the past decade.  All these efforts came to fruition when in 2010 the university successfully got this sought-for renewal from the Commission for Higher Education.  At the same time, the Estepa administration also endeavored to promote and expand its PAASCU accreditation.  Thus, in 2016, the efforts of the administration paid off when the Arts and Sciences, Elementary and Secondary, and the Business and Accountancy programs got a fresh five-year reaccredited status until 2021.  Also in the same year, CHED granted to HNU’s Teacher Education program the status of being a Center for Development (COD), the very first  academic institution in Bohol given such recognition. A year earlier, HNU also passed the criteria as Delivering Higher Education Institution (DHEI) for the following CHED-sponsored scholarship grants for the following programs: Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management, Master of Arts in Administration and Supervision, and Master in Business Administration.

Meanwhile, the student population of HNU continued to grow. New spaces of learning were required. In 2015, the new HRM Laboratory was opened. The new facility has provided a home for front office operations, food and beverage service, bar management of those taking Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management as well as Office Management for those taking Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program.

Already, signs of the shape of things to come have already started filtering in.  In June of 2020, just three months since the implementation of the COVID lockdown protocols, a new president has come to the helm of Holy Name University.  He is Fr. Ruel F. Lero, SVD, formerly the Vice-President for Academic Affairs.  With his youthful enthusiasm and well-grounded background as academician, there is reason to hope under his watch our dear old Holy Name would weather the latest storm and be brought into stiller water ahead, on the way to the glorious celebration of the school’s 75 years of sterling service to God and the His people.

Father Alphonse G. Lesage, SVD is given the credit as the Founder and First Director of Holy Name College (formerly Divine Word College and now Holy Name University) in 1947. He took the cudgels of running a school which figuratively was suffering the pains of growing and the problems of infancy.

Fr. Lesage was a tireless and fearless worker. His burning missionary zeal and pioneering spirit saw him through the arduous task of establishing a Catholic college in Tagbilaran.

He was known for his discipline and austere disposition. He is best remembered for his striking sense of fairness and justice, his sincere spirit of frugality-avoiding excesses and sticking only to what is basic and essential.

He was born on February 17, 1905 and died on December 30, 1977.