The Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) is a private university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. Its main campus is located in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It offers programs at the elementary, secondary, college, graduate, and post-graduate levels in various fields such as the arts, humanities, business, law, social sciences, theology, and the pure and applied sciences.
It is one of only two schools in the country to receive Level IV accreditation, the highest possible level, from the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines and the PAASCU. This mark of distinction is awarded to institutions which have distinguished themselves in a broad area of academic discipline and enjoy prestige and authority comparable to that of international universities.
The Ateneo Commitment: Faith that Does Justice
The Ateneo has grounded its vision and mission in Jesuit educational tradition. The university's vision-mission statement is summarized as follows:
"The Ateneo de Manila University seeks to foster the formation of men and women who critically examine the world around them, pursue excellence and leadership so as to go forth and develop solutions that beset society, and positively contribute to the development of the Filipino nation and the world at large."
The university is also largely involved in civic work, with projects such as the Ateneo-Mangyan Project for Understanding and Development and Bigay Puso at the Grade School, the Christian Service and Involvement Program, Banlaw immersion, and Tulong Dunong program for senior students, all at the High School, at the College, the many progams by the Office of Social Concern and Involvement such as builds with Gawad Kalinga and Kalinga Luzon, the Labor Trials Program which is tied in with juniors' Philosophy classes, and at the Professional Schools, projects such as the Graduate School of Business' Mulat-Diwa, the Leaders for Health Project, the Law School's Human Rights Center and Legal Aid programs, to name a few. Other projects include the Pathways to Higher Education program, a tie-up with the Ford Foundation which is a comprehensive response to the problem faced by academically-gifted by financially-underprivileged youth who who seek a college education. There are also programs by the Ateneo Center for Educational Development.
History
The Ateneo de Manila University began in 1859 as a public primary school established in Intramuros in Manila by Spanish Jesuits. Ots founding is closely tied to the history of the Society of Jesus as a teaching order in the Philippines.
The first Spanish Jesuits arrived in the Philippines in 1581 as missionaries. They were also custodians of the ratio studiorum, a Jesuit system of education developed about 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, the Society through Fr. Antonio Sedeño, S.J. founded the Colegio de Manila (also known as the Colegio de San Ignacio) in Intramuros in 1590. The San Ignacio formally opened in 1595, and was the first school in the Philippines.
In 1621, Pope Gregory XV through the Archbishop of Manila authorized the San Ignacio to confer degrees in theology and arts and elevated it to a university. In 1623, King Philip IV of Spain confirmed the authorization, making the school both a pontifical and a royal university, and the very first university in the Philippines and in Asia.
In 1768, the Jesuits surrendered the San Ignacio to Spanish civil authorities following their Suppression and their expulsion from Spain and the rest of the Spanish realm, including the Philippines.
Through an 1852 Royal Decree from Queen Isabela II, ten Spanish Jesuits arrived in Manila on 14 April 1859, nearly a century after the Jesuits left the Philippines. This Jesuit mission was sent mainly to do missionary work in Mindanao and Jolo.
Because of the Jesuits' entrenched reputation as educators among Manila’s leaders, on 5 August the Ayuntamiento or city council requested that Governor-General a Jesuit school be founded and financed by public funds. On 1 October 1859, the Governor-General authorized the Jesuits to take over the Escuela Municipal, a small private school maintained for some 30 children of Spanish residents. Partly subsidized by the Ayuntamiento, the Escuela was the only primary school in Manila at the time. The Escuela eventually became the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1865, elevated to an institution of secondary education. It then offered the bachillerato or bachelor's degree, as well as courses leading to certificates in agriculture, surveying, and business.
After Americans occupied the Philippines in the early 1900s, the Ateneo de Manila lost its government subsidy from the city and became a private institution. The Jesuits removed the word “Municipal” from the school’s official name, and it has since been known as the Ateneo de Manila. In 1908, the American colonial government recognized the Ateneo's college status and licensed its offering the bachelor’s degee and certificates in various disciplines, including electrical engineering. American Jesuits then took over administration in 1912. Fr. Richard O’Brien, S.J., the third American rector, the Ateneo transferred to the location of the San Jose Major Seminary in Padre Faura, Ermita after a fire destroyed the Intramuros campus in 1932. In 1952, the Ateneo moved to its present Loyola Heights campus even as the Padre Faura campus continued to house the professional schools.
Fr. Francisco Araneta, S.J. was appointed as the Ateneo de Manila's first Filipino Rector in 1958. In 1959, its centennial year, the Ateneo became a university.
The Ateneo's Padre Faura campus closed in 1976 and was sold shortly after. A year after, the Ateneo opened a new campus for its professional schools in Salcedo Village in the bustling business district of Makati. In October 1998, the University completed construction of a bigger site of the Ateneo Professional Schools at Rockwell, also in Makati.
In 2000, the Ateneo de Manila celebrated the Jubilee Year in solidarity with the rest of the Church. The year later saw the community take part in action against then Philippine President Joseph Estrada. In 2001, various sectors in the Ateneo community took part in the popular uprising in EDSA which led to Estrada's ouster.
2002 saw the completion of the Church of the Gesu, the new university church (the first one had been the San Ignacio church in Intramuros, which was destroyed in the Second World War). In 2004, the Ateneo celebrated its 145th anniversary as it joined numerous organization in founding Kalinga Luzon, a group dedicated to the rehabilitation of Luzon in light of typhoons that devasted the Philippines.
Campus
The Ateneo de Manila has three campuses, the largest of which is located in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Its two other campuses are situated in Makati City--one in Rockwell and another in Salcedo.
Loyola campus
Overlooking the Marikina Valley, the main campus is located in Loyola Heights, along Katipunan Avenue, and is adjacent to Miriam College.
The Grade School, High School, and Loyola Schools are located in the Ateneo's Loyola Heights campus. Beside the Grade School is the Henry Lee Irwin, S.J. Theater, built in 1996 to house the school's formal events and productions. Complimenting the old buildings of the Loyola Schools are the Science Education Complex, as well as the PLDT Convergent Technologies Center-John Gokongwei School of Management Complex.
Within this campus is the Rizal Library, the main university library. Also located here are numerous units and research centers affiliated with the Ateneo, such as the Institute of Social Order, Asian Public Intellectuals, and others. Also situated here are the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Loyola School of Theology, and San Jose Seminary.
Among the buildings in the campus are the Loyola Center, also known as the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym, and the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center (MLSC). The Ateneo Gym is one of the largest gymnasiums among the universities in Metro Manila while the MLSC is often used by the Philippine National Basketball Team as well as other professional teams for their training needs.
The Church of the Gesu, completed in July 2002, overlooks the campus. The school's chapels include the St. Stanislaus Kostka chapel in the High School, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in the College complex's Gonzaga Hall, the chapel at the Loyola House of Studies, and the Chapel of the Holy Guardian Angels in the Grade School, among others.
The university has two on-campus dormitories for college students: Cervini Hall and Eliazo Hall. Located near the Loyola Schools, Cervini accomodates approximately two hundred male students, while Eliazo houses one hundred and sixty female students. Other dormitories which are also open to college and graduate school students are those of the Institute of Social Order and the East Asian Pastoral Institute.
Makati campuses
The Ateneo Graduate School of Business, Ateneo Law School, and Ateneo School of Government are located within the Rockwell compound in northern Makati City. The Ateneo Information Technology Institute is housed in the Salcedo campus, also in Makati City.
Professional Schools
The professional schools are the graduate-level division of Ateneo de Manila. The Professional Schools offer masteral degrees, and the School of Law confers the Juris Doctor (JD) degree in lieu of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.
- AGSB-BAP Institute of Banking
- Ateneo Graduate School of Business
- Ateneo Information Technology Institute
- Ateneo School of Government
- Ateneo School of Law
- Center for Continuing Education
Opening in 2007 is the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health in Ortigas, which will offer a joint Doctor of Medicine/Master of Management program. The ASMPH will be working with the Medical City hospital.
Loyola Schools
The Loyola Schools is the tertiary level school unit of Ateneo de Manila University that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the Arts and Sciences. It operates under the statutes of the Ateneo de Manila University. It is composed of the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, and the School of Social Sciences.
Degree Offerings
Ateneo offers numerous concentrations and degrees for its students. On the undergraduate level, it confers degrees for Bachelor of Arts (AB), Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Fine Arts. It also confers the degrees for Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees.
Curriculum
Aside from their major concentration subjects, all undergraduate students are required to take up subjects that form a multidisciplinary core curriculum. This curriculum is split across the four or five year-long programs, and consists of classes in the humanities, language courses, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, and history. Classes in philosophy and theology are billed as the centerpiece of the core curriculum.
Centers of Excellence and Development for Excellence
Centers of Excellence (COEs) and Centers of Development (CODs) are institutions which, as identified by the Commission on Higher Education, have demonstrated the highest degree or level of standards along the areas of instruction, research and extension. They provide institutional leadership in all aspects of development in specific areas of discipline in the various regions by providing networking arrangements to help ensure the accelerated development of HEIs in their respective service areas.
COEs/CODs in the different disciplines were identified and carefully selected for funding assistance. Funds released to these centers were utilized for student scholarships, faculty development, library and laboratory upgrading, research and extension services, instructional materials development, and networking of existing COEs and CODs.
Ateneo has Centers of Excellence in Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Literature Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Sociology as well as Centers for Development in Business and Information Technology as of 2000.
High School
The Ateneo de Manila High School is an all-boys Catholic preparatory school.
The campus features various facilities such as a library, the Instructional Technology Center, the Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan, and a large athletic complex with one of the largest covered courts in the country. In 2003, the High School opened a new building called the Center for Math, Science and Technology, which contains the school's science and computer laboratories.
The High School is also known for religious formation programs, such as the Christian Service and Involvement Program, which is comprised of the Exposure Trip for Freshmen, Christian Service Program for sophomores, the Banlaw Immersion Program for juniors, and the Tulong Dunong program for seniors. Other religious formation activities include recollections and retreats. The Ateneo High School is notable for being the first school to hold sessions of Days with the Lord.
Grade School
The Ateneo de Manila Grade School is an all-boys institution, which provides facilities and classrooms for students in the preparatory level to the seventh grade.
Culture, sports, and traditions
The Ateneo de Manila University is active in a number of inter-university sport activities, the most notable of which are the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) sporting events. The school enjoys a healthy rivalry with De La Salle University.
The Ateneo Name
The word and name Ateneo is the Spanish form of Atheneum, which the Dictionary of Classical Antiquities defines as the name of “the first educational institution in Rome” where “rhetoricians and poets held their recitations.” Fr. Meany further explains that Hadrian’s school drew its name from a Greek temple dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, where, the Encyclopedia Britannica says “poets and men of learning were accustomed to meet and read their productions.”
The word Atheneum is also used in reference to schools and literary clubs. The closest English translation is academy, pertaining to institutions of secondary learning. The Escuela Municipal de Manila actually became the Ateneo Municipal only after it began offering secondary education in 1865. In the Philippines, the name Ateneo has become more than a common Spanish noun. The Society of Jesus established several other Ateneos since 1865, and over the years, the name Ateneo has become recognized as the official title of Jesuit institutions of higher learning in the Philippines.
When the United States withdrew government subsidy from Ateneo in 1901, Father Rector Jose Clos, S.J. dropped the word municipal from the school name, and it became Ateneo de Manila, a name it keeps to this day. And since its university charter was granted in 1959, the school has officially been called the Ateneo de Manila University.
Lux-in-Domino
The Ateneo's motto is Lux in Domino, meaning “Light in the Lord.” This is not the school’s original motto. The Escuela Municipal’s 1859 motto was "Al merito y a la virtud": “In Merit and in Virtue.” This motto persisted through the school’s renaming in 1865 and in 1901.
The motto Lux in Domino first appeared as part of the Ateneo seal introduced by Father Rector Joaquin Añon, S.J. for the 1909 Golden Jubilee. It comes from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, 5.8:“For you were once in darkness, now you are light in the lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.”
The Ateneo de Manila Seal
In 1859, the Escuela Municipal carried the arms of the city of Manila, granted by King Philip II of Spain. By 1865, along with the change of name, the school's seal had evolved to include some religious images, such as the Jesuit monogram IHS and Marian symbols. A revised seal was introduced in 1909 with clearer Marian symbols and the current motto, Lux in Domino. This seal was retained for 20 years.
Father Rector Richard O’Brien, S.J. introduced a new seal for Ateneo de Manila’s Diamond Jubilee in 1929. This seal abandons the arms of Manila and instead adopts a design that is thoroughly Ignatian and Jesuit in character. This is the seal currently used by Ateneo.
The seal is defined by two semi-circular ribbons. The crown ribbon contains the school motto, “Lux-in-Domino”, while the base ribbon contains the school name, “Ateneo de Manila”. These ribbons define a circular field on which rests the shield of Oñaz-Loyola: a combination of the arms of the paternal and maternal sides of the family of St. Ignatius. (See the sidebar description.)
Above the shield is a Basque sunburst, referring to Ignatius' Basque roots, but also representing a consecrated host. It bears the letters IHS, the first three letters of the Holy Name of Jesus in Greek, and an adaptation of the emblem of the Society of Jesus.
Many erroneously believe that the Ateneo de Manila seal features the letters JHS. This misunderstanding stems from the peculiar rendering of the letters in the Ateneo de Manila seal. The letter I is drawn in a florid calligraphic style and conforms to the circle’s shape. It therefore appears similar to a J.
The seal’s colors are blue, white, red, and gold. In traditional heraldry, white or silver (Argent) represents a commitment to peace and truth. Blue (Azure) represents fortitude and loyalty. Red (Gules) represens martyrdom, sacrifice, and strength. Gold (Or) represents nobility and generosity.
White and blue are also Ateneo’s school colors, the colors of Mary. Red and gold are the colors of Spain, home of Ignatius and the Ateneo’s Jesuit founders. Finally, these four tinctures mirror the tinctures of the Philippine flag, marking the Ateneo’s identity as a Filipino University.
Marian Devotion
Ateneans value symbols of devotion to Maria Purissima, Queen of the Ateneo. Among them are the rosary in the pocket, the blue October Medal of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and the alma mater song, “A Song for Mary”.
Blue and White
The Ateneo has adopted the colors of Mary, blue and white, as its official school colors. The shade of blue is ultramarine, a tincture derived from lapis lazuli, which historically has been used to color the vestments of Mary in paintings.
Blue Eagle
Prior to the 1930s, Ateneo had no mascot. Meanwhile, Catholic Schools in the United States, particularly those named after saints, were distressed by the cheekiness with which they were mentioned in sports pages. Headlines read “St. Michael’s Wallops St. Augustine’s,” or “St. Thomas’ Scalps St. Peter’s.” It was then agreed that each school adopt a mascot, a symbol for the team which sportswriters could toss about with impunity.
The idea quickly caught on in the Philippines. By the 1930s, the Ateneo had adopted the Blue Eagle as a symbol, and had a live eagle accompany the basketball team.
The choice of mascot held iconic significance. It was a reference to the “high-flying” basketball team which would “sweep the fields away;” the dominating force in NCAA. Furthermore, there was some mythological—even political—significance to the eagle as a symbol of power.
In On Wings of Blue, a booklet of Ateneo traditions, songs, and cheers published in the 1950’s, Lamberto Javellana writes:
“The Eagle—fiery, majestic, whose kingdom is the virgin sky, is swift in pursuit, terrible in battle. He is a king—a fighting king… And thus he was chosen—to soar with scholar’s thought and word high into the regions of truth and excellence, to flap his glorious wings and cast his ominous shadow below, even as the student crusader would instill fear in those who would battle against the Cross. And so he was chosen—to fly with the fleet limbs of the cinder pacer, to swoop down with the Blue gladiator into the arena of sporting combat and with him to fight—and keep on fighting till brilliant victory, or honorable defeat. And so he was chosen—to perch on the Shield of Loyola, to be the symbol of all things honorable, even as the Great Eagle is perched on the American escutcheon, to be the guardian of liberty. And so he was chosen—and he lives, not only in body to soar over his campus aerie, but in spirit, in the Ateneo Spirit… For he flies high, and he is a fighter, and he is King!”
The eagle also appears in the standards of many organizations, schools, and nations as a guardian of freedom and truth. It is also worthwhile to note that the national bird of the Philippines is an eagle as well.
Dante in his Divine Comedy uses the Eagle as a symbol of the Roman Empire, which used the bird as part of its standard. The Romans considered the eagle sacred to Jupiter himself. To this day, the eagle is often seen as the bird of God, the only bird that could fly above the clouds and stare directly at the sun. In fact, the eagle represents St. John, the Evangelist, in honor of the soaring spirit and penetrating vision of his gospel.
Ateneo's Cheering Tradition
The Ateneo’s success in athletics was renowned even before the NCAA began. Intense games were fought before rather disorganized and rambunctious Atenean spectators. To help cheer the Ateneo squad on, the Jesuits decided that the Ateneo ought to have some sort of organization in its cheering. As a result of their effort, the Ateneo introduced organized cheering to the country by fielding the first-ever cheering squad in the Philippines.
The Ateneo was a proud pioneer. There were even arguments about how the Ateneo’s brand of cheering is both unique and rooted in classical antiquity. In the 1959 Ateneo Aegis, Art Borjal argues:
“It all started about 2,000 years ago along the Via Appia in Rome. The deafening cheers of Roman citizens, lined along the way, thundered in the sky as the returning victorious warriors passed by…The type of cheering that the Ateneo introduced was, in a way, quite different from that of the Romans. When the warriors came home in defeat, the citizens shouted in derision and screamed for the soldiers’ blood. To the Atenean, victory and defeat do not matter much. To cheer for a losing team that had fought fairly and well is as noble, if not nobler, than cheering for a victorious squad.”
The words of some of the cheers seem incomprehensible or derived from an exotic tongue. Loud, rapid yells of “fabilioh” and “halikinu” mean to rally the team and to intimidate and confuse the enemy gallery. Meanwhile, fighting songs help inspire the team, and to “roll out the victory.” The united crowd, a Blue Babble Battalion, enlivens the team “under banners of white and blue.”
Ateneo de Manila Hymn: Song for Mary
Before the Ateneo de Manila moved to Loyola Heights, the school anthem was "Hail Ateneo, Hail", a marching tune. However, with the campus' move from Padre Faura to Loyola Heights, the school hymn was changed to "Song for Mary", written by Fr. James Reuter.
The tune is adapted from Calixa Lavallée's hymn "O Canada", composed in 1880. It is commonly believed that Ateneo copied the music of Canada's national anthem. However, "O Canada" was adopted as Canada's national anthem in 1980, four decades after the Ateneo de Manila adopted "Song for Mary" as its alma mater song.
Noted alumni and professors
This is a table of notable people affiliated with Ateneo de Manila University, including graduates, former students, and former professors.
External links
Official web sites
- Network of Jesuit Universities in the Philippines
- Ateneo de Manila University
- Ateneo de Manila High School
Professional schools
- Ateneo Law School
- Ateneo Graduate School of Business
- Ateneo IT Institute
- Ateneo Professional Schools Library
Libraries
- Rizal Library-Ateneo de Manila
- High School Library-Ateneo de Manila
- Ateneo Professional Schools Library
Athletics
- Team Ateneo Ateneo varsity teams' website
- Ateneo Blue Eagles Official website of the Ateneo Men's Basketball Team
- Ateneo Sports Photographers Gallery
- Team Ateneo's Halikinu Radio Show on NU 107.5
- Moro Lorenzo Sports Center
Student Organizations
- Ateneo Junior Marketing Association
- Ateneo Management Information Systems Association
- Ateneo Management Engineering Association
- Ateneo Debate Society
- Tanghalang Ateneo College theater group
- Ateneo-Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Union
Publications
- KATIPUNAN Independent campus news organization
- Heights Official student literary publication and organization
- Matanglawin Official student Filipino magazine
- The GUIDON Official student newspaper
Others