History of the Ateneo de Manila
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[edit] Roots of Jesuit education in the Philippines
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University finds its roots in 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 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, 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.
However, by the mid-18th century, Catholic colonial powers, notably France, Portugal, and Spain, had grown hostile to the Society of Jesus because the Jesuits actively educated and empowered colonized people. The Society was particularly notorious for encouraging indigenous people to seek self-governance. Because of this, the colonial powers eventually expelled the Society, often quite brutally, from their realms.
In 1768, the Jesuits surrendered the San Ignacio to Spanish civil authorities following their suppression and expulsion from Spain and the rest of the Spanish realm, including the Philippines. Under pressure from Catholic royalty, Pope Clement XIV formally declared the dissolution of the Society of Jesus in 1773.
Pope Pius VII reinstated the Society in 1814, after almost seven decades of persecution and over four decades of formal suppression. However, the Jesuits would not return to the Philippines until 1859, almost a century after their expulsion.
[edit] The return of Jesuit education of the Philippines
Through an 1852 Royal Decree from Queen Isabella 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 de Manila (est. 1800), a small private school maintained for some 30 children of Spanish residents. Ten Spanish Jesuit priests and a Jesuit brother began operating the school on 10 December 1859. The Ateneo de Manila University considers this date its foundation day.
Partly subsidized by the Ayuntamiento, the Escuela was the only primary school in Manila at the time. The Escuela eventually changed its name to Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1865, when it became accredited as an institution of secondary education. It began by offering 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 soon after, 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 degree and certificates in various disciplines, including electrical engineering. The Ateneo campus also housed other Jesuit institutions of research and learning, such as the Manila Observatory and the San Jose Major Seminary.
[edit] The Commonwealth, World War II, and the birth of the Republic
American Jesuits then took over administration in 1912. Fr. Richard O’Brien, the third American rector, led the relocation of the San Jose Major Seminary in Padre Faura, Ermita after a fire destroyed the Intramuros campus in 1932.
Devastation hit the Ateneo campus once again during World War II. Only one structure remained standing – the statue of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus which now stands in front of the Jesuit Residence in the Loyola Heights campus. Ironwork and statuary salvaged from the Ateneo ruins have since been incorporated into various existing Ateneo buildings. Some examples are the Ateneo monograms on the gates of the Loyola Heights campus, the iron grillwork on the ground floor of Xavier Hall, and the statue of the Immaculate Conception displayed at the University Archives. But even if the Ateneo campus had been destroyed, the university survived. Following the American liberation, the Ateneo de Manila reopened temporarily in Plaza Guipit in Sampaloc. The Padre Faura campus reopened in 1946 with Quonset huts serving as buildings among the campus ruins.
In 1952, the university, led by James Masterson, S.J., moved most of its units to its present Loyola Heights campus. Controversy surrounded the decision. An Ateneo Jesuit supposedly said that only the "children of Tarzan" would study in the new campus. But over the years, the Ateneo in Loyola Heights has become the center of a dynamic community. The Padre Faura campus continued to house the professional schools until 1976.
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.
[edit] Years of turmoil, transition, and transformation
The following decades saw escalating turbulence engulf the university as an active movement for Filipinization and a growing awareness of the vast gulf between rich and poor grip the entire nation. Throughout the 1960s, Ateneans pushed for an Ateneo which was more conversant with the Filipino situation and rooted more deeply in Filipino values. They pushed for the use of Filipino for instruction, and pushed the university to implement reforms that addressed the growing social problems of poverty and injustice. During that time, the Graduate School split into the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, which eventually became the Graduate School of Business.
In 1965, Fr. Horacio de la Costa, became the first Filipino Provincial Superior of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus. On September 25, 1969, Pacifico Ortiz, S.J., was installed as the first Filipino President of the Ateneo de Manila.
Ateneans also played a vital role as student activism rose in academe in the 1970s. Students faced university expulsion and violent government dispersal as they protested the dismissal of dissenting faculty and students, oppressive laws and price hikes, human rights violations, and other injustices. On September 21, 1972, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. The university administration had great difficulty reconciling the promotion of social justice and keeping the university intact. They locked down on the more overt expressions of activism--violence and militancy--and strove to maintain a semblance of normalcy as they sought to keep military men from being stationed on campus.
In 1973, Jesuit Superior General Fr. Pedro Arrupe called for Jesuit schools to educate for justice and to form "men and women for others." The Ateneo college opened its doors to its first female students in that same year.
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences moved to Loyola Heights in 1976, and the Padre Faura campus finally closed in 1977 as the Graduate School of Business and the School of Law moved to H.V. de la Costa St. in Salcedo Village, Makati. That same year, the Ateneo, then the ‘winningest’ school in men's basketball, left the NCAA, which it co-founded, due to violence plaguing the league.
In February 1978, the Ateneo opened the Ateneo-Univac Computer Technology Center, one of the country’s pioneering computer centers. This later became the Ateneo Computer Technology Center.
On August 21, 1983, Ateneo alumnus Senator Benigno Aquino was assassinated upon his return from exile in the United States. Ateneans continued to work with sectors such as the poor, non-government organizations, and some activist groups in the dying years of the martial law era. On February 11, 1986, alumnus and Antique Governor Evelio Javier was gunned down. Two weeks later, Ateneans joined in the peaceful uprising at EDSA which ousted Ferdinand Marcos.
[edit] Recent Ateneo history
In 1987, the Ateneo joined the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), and went on to win back-to-back crowns in men’s basketball.
In 1991, the Ateneo joined in relief operations to help the victims affected by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. That same year saw the School of Law phase out its Bachelor of Laws degree and conferring the Juris Doctor degree.
In 1994, the Ateneo was the first Philippine school on the Internet, and in 1996 the Ateneo relaunched the Ateneo Computer Technology Center as the Ateneo Information Technology Institute and established the Ateneo School of Government. In 1998, the Ateneo’s Rockwell campus, which would house the Graduate School of Business and the School of Law, rose in Bel-Air, Makati, while the Science Education Complex was completed in the Loyola Heights campus.
In 2000, the School of Arts and Sciences which comprised the College and the Graduate School restructured into four Loyola Schools: the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, and the School of Social Sciences. The completion of the Moro Lorenzo Sports Complex in Loyola Heights bolstered the sports program. Midway through the year, alumnus and Philippine President Joseph Estrada faced grave corruption charges. The Ateneo hosted KOMPIL II and other organizations and movements, as members of the university community gathered in force at the Jericho March at the Senate and other mass actions.
In 2001, after a second popular uprising at EDSA, Ateneo alumna and former Economics faculty member Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as the 14th President of the Philippines. In May, she would face another uprising EDSA sparked by Estrada supporters, who protested his arrest on plunder charges. Arroyo quelled the uprising, but political uncertainty would continue to plague the nation throughout her administration.
In April 2002, the Office of the President established Pathways to Higher Education-Philippines with the help of the Ford and Synergeia Foundations. In July, on the feast of St. Ignatius, the University Church of the Gesù finally rose in the Loyola Heights campus, and was consecrated by Jaime Cardinal Sin.
In 2003, the Ateneo adopted its first formal, university-wide social action program, its partnership with Gawad Kalinga, a movement initiated by Couples for Christ that aims to eliminate poverty and build a new Philippines by building respectable homes and caring communities for the poor. In November 2004 typhoons and flooding devastated Luzon and the rest of the Philippines, even as tsunamis ravaged most of southeast Asia. In response, the Ateneo community launched its disaster relief program, Task Force Noah, which has continued to contribute to disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas that include Calatagan in Mindoro and Guinsaugon in Southern Leyte. The Ateneo also earned the highest possible accreditation status, Level IV, from the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines and the Philippine Accreditation Association for Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAASCU). That same year, the Ateneo de Manila celebrated its 145th anniversary, and the 145th anniversary of the return of Jesuit education in the Philippines as it launched the countdown to its sesquicentennial, its 150th anniversary in 2009.
In January 2005, as typhoon relief efforts wound down, the Ateneo, Gawad Kalinga, and other partners launched Kalinga Luzon (KL). KL is a program dedicated to the long-term rehabilitation of typhoon-stricken communities in Luzon. 2005 also saw the rise of initiatives such as the Social Involvement Workshops and other fora, especially in light of the political crisis sparked by allegations of President Arroyo's cheating in the 2004 presidential elections. The Ateneo also established more tie-ups and foreign linkages, as well as prepared efforts leading to the development of the Leong Center for Chinese Studies in the university.
In early 2006, members of the Ateneo de Manila University and affiliated Jesuit institutions continue to be at the forefront of movements calling for discernment, action, and sustainable solutions to the deeply divisive political issues that continue to rock Filipino society. The Ateneo de Manila University also intensified its social development efforts, launching Kalinga Leyte, a program for the long-term rehabilitation of Southern Leyte, with its GK partners. The Ateneo has also expanded the scope of its involvement with Gawad Kalinga and has begun to drive GK initiatives throughout Nueva Ecija, and in other provinces such as Cotobato and Quezon.
[edit] See also
- Ateneo de Manila University
- Notable alumni of the Ateneo de Manila
- Culture and traditions of the Ateneo de Manila
[edit] External link
[edit] References
- Websites
- Ateneo de Manila University http://www.ateneo.edu
- Ateneo School of Law http://law.ateneo.edu
- Ateneo Graduate School of Business http://gsb.ateneo.edu
- Ateneo Information Technology Institute http://www.aiti.ateneo.edu
- Ateneo School of Government http://www.asg.ateneo.edu
- Loyola School of Theology http://www.lst.edu
- Manila Observatory http://www.observatory.ph
- Society of Jesus Philippine Province http://www.jesuits.ph, http://www.ignaciana.org
- http://home.ust.hk/~sanet/PHILIPPINE/amu/amu_miss.htm
- Ateneo Office of International Programs http://www.ateneo.edu/oip
- Aegis
- Roman A. Cruz, Jr. "The Ateneo Story." Aegis. 1959
- Ateneo Alumni Business Directory
- Ateneo Alumni Guidon
- Jaime C. Bulatao, S.J. "Death of A University." Ateneo Alumni Guidon, Vol. VII No. I, Vol. VII No. 2, and Vol. VIII No. 1
- Lamberto Javellana. On Wings of Blue
- KATIPUNAN magazine
- Loyola Schools Bulletin
- The Guidon
- The Hill
- Soledad S. Reyes. "From the walled city by the sea to the hill over the valley: The Ateneo through the years" The Hill. Maiden Issue. 2004.
- Letters to the Editor, Vol. I No. 2. 2004
- Newspaper articles and supplements
- Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J. "The Ateneo de Manila Celebrates 145 Years". Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star. Dec. 10, 2004.
- Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J. "The Ateneo de Manila beyond 145". Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star. Dec. 10, 2004.
- "Maging Liwanag". Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star. Dec. 10, 2005. http://www.ateneo.edu/news.php?office_id=1&news_id=3507
- Jose S. Arcilla, S.J. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation. Office of Research and Publications, Ateneo de Manila University. 2003. ISBN 971-550-020-X
- Teodoro A. Agoncillo. History of the Filipino People, 8th Edition. Garotech Publishing. 1990. ISBN 9-71-871106-6
- Nick Joaquin. Manila, My Manila. Bookmark. 1999. ISBN 971-569-313-X
- Jean Mallat, translated by Pura Santillan-Castrence and Lina S. Castrence. The Philippines: History, Geography, Customs, Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce of the Spanish Colonies in Oceania. National Historical Institute. 1998. ISBN 971-538-081-6.
- Cristina Jayme Montiel and Susan Evangelista, eds. Down from the Hill: Ateneo de Manila In the First Ten Years Under Martial Law, 1971-1982. Ateneo de Manila University Press. 2005. ISBN 971-550-486-8.
