History of the Ateneo de Manila

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[edit] Early history

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 in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the ratio studiorum, the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, the Society, through Fr. Antonio Sedeño, founded the Colegio de Manila (also known as the Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio) in Intramuros in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, and was the first school in the Philippines.[1][2]

In 1621, the Colegio de Manila was authorized to confer university degrees in theology and arts by virtue of the privileges conferred by Pope Gregory XV on colleges of the Society of Jesus.[3] In 1623, Philip IV of Spain confirmed the authorization, while in 1732, Philip V of Spain founded two regius (royal) professorships in the Colegio, one in canon and another in civil law, making the school both a pontifical and a royal institution.[4][3] The institution was frequently referred to in contemporary documents as the Universidad Máximo de San Ignacio, the first royal and pontifical university in the Philippines and in Asia.[5][2][6][7][8][3]


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.[2][5][8][3]

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.[2][8][3]

[edit] 19th century

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. [2][5][8][3]

Because of the Jesuits' entrenched reputation as educators among Manila’s leaders, on 5 August the Ayuntamiento or city council requested the Governor-General to found and finance a Jesuit school using 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. 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. Jose Rizal, who would later be named National Hero of the Philippines, enrolled for his secondary studies in 1872, and went on to graduate in 1877 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He continued studying at the Ateneo for a license in land surveying.

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 de Manila's college status and licensed its offering the bachelor’s degee 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.[2][5][8][3]

[edit] Early 20th century

American Jesuits took over Ateneo administration in 1912. Fr. Richard O’Brien, the third American rector, led the relocation to the grounds the San Jose Major Seminary in Padre Faura, Ermita after a fire destroyed the Intramuros campus in 1932.

The Ateneo campus was devastated 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. Salvaged ironwork and statues from the ruins have since been incorporated into various existing Ateneo buildings such as 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, Manila. The Padre Faura campus reopened in 1946 with Quonset huts serving as buildings among the campus ruins.[9][10]

In 1952, Fr. William F. Masterson S.J., moved most of the Ateneo units to its present Loyola Heights campus. This decision faced some opposition, with Ateneo Jesuit supposedly saying that only the "children of Tarzan" would study in the new campus.[11] But over the years, the Ateneo in Loyola Heights has become the center of a dynamic community.[2] The Padre Faura campus continued to house the professional schools until 1976.

Fr. Francisco Araneta, S.J. was appointed as the Ateneo de Manila's first Filipino Rector in 1958.[2] In 1959, its centennial year, the Ateneo became a university.

[edit] Late 20th century

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.[11]

In 1965, Fr. Horacio de la Costa, became the first Filipino Provincial Superior of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus.[12] On September 25, 1969, Pacifico Ortiz, S.J., was installed as the first Filipino President of the Ateneo de Manila.[13]

Ateneans also played a vital role together with student organizations from other prominent colleges and universities 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 miltancy--and strived to maintain a semblance of normalcy as they sought to keep military men from being stationed on campus. [11][14]

In 1973, Jesuit Superior General Fr. Pedro Arrupe called for Jesuit schools to educate for justice and to form "men and women for others."[15] 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.[11]

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. The Ateneo also joined the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

On August 21, 1983, Ateneo alumnus Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. 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 thousands of Filipinos from all walks of life in the peaceful uprising at EDSA which ousted Ferdinand Marcos.[11]

[edit] Recent history

In 1987, nine years after the Ateneo joined the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the university went on to win its first crown in UAAP men’s basketball. The Blue Eagles won a second straight title in 1988.[11][13]

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 phased out its Bachelor of Laws degree and conferring the Juris Doctor degree.

In 1994, the Ateneo was one of the first Philippine schools on the Internet, and was part of the conference that connected the Philippines to the world wide web.[16] 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 currently houses the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, the Ateneo School of Law, and the Ateneo School of Government, was completed in Rockwell Center in Bel-Air, Makati. The Science Education Complex was completed in the Loyola Heights campus.

The Science Education Complex
The Science Education Complex

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 Moro Lorenzo Sports Complex was completed in the Loyola Heights campus to bolster the sports program. Midway through that year, high school alumnus and Philippine President Joseph Estrada faced grave corruption charges connected with economic plunder and jueteng, an illegal numbers game. The University hosted KOMPIL II and other organizations and movements in its Loyola Heights and Makati campuses. Members of the university community participated in the Jericho March at the Senate and other mass actions.[11]

In 2001 Ateneo alumna and former Economics faculty member Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as the 14th President of the Philippines, overthrowing Estrada after top military officers withdrew support from his as commander in chief.

In April 2002, the office of the University President established Pathways to Higher Education-Philippines, one of the university's outreach initiatives, with the help of the Ford and Synergeia Foundations. On July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius, the University Church of the Gesù was completed in the Loyola Heights campus, and was consecrated by Jaime Cardinal Sin. The year also saw the Blue Eagles end a 14-year drought in men's basketball.[17]

In 2003, the Ateneo entered into its partnership with Gawad Kalinga, its first formal, university-wide social action program. In response to the typhoons and flooding that devastated most of the Philippine Island of Luzon in November 2004, the Ateneo launched Task Force Noah, its disaster response initiative, 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 earned the highest possible accreditation status, Level IV, from the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines and the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).[11][18] That same year, the Ateneo de Manila celebrated its 145th anniversary, and the 145th anniversary of the return of Jesuit education in the Philippines. It also launched the countdown to its sesquicentennial in 2009.

As typhoon relief efforts wound down in January 2005 the Ateneo, Gawad Kalinga, and other partners launched Kalinga Luzon (KL), a program dedicated to the long-term rehabilitation of typhoon-stricken communities in Luzon.[19] 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. [20] 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.[21]

In early 2006, members of the Ateneo de Manila University and affiliated Jesuit institutions were part of movements calling for discernment, action, and sustainable solutions to the deeply divisive political issues that continue to rock Filipino society.[22] 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.[23]

Midway through 2006, the Manuel V Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership was completed[24] The University also began ground-breaking for the development of several projects: the Ricardo Leong Hall, which will house several units of the Loyola Schools' School of Social Sciences and the Confucius Institute for Chinese Studies,[25][26] as well as the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health facility in Ortigas. In December, the Ateneo also launched AGAP-Bikol in cooperation with other Jesuit-affiliated and civil society groups, in response to the devastation wrought by typhoons in the Bicol area.[27]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Ateneo Aegis (Official Yearbook)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h The first hundred years of the Ateneo de Manila
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Horacio de la Costa, S.J. The Jesuits in the Philippines.
  4. ^ http://www.clsp.org.ph/docs/1999-historical-profile.pdf.
  5. ^ a b c d Roman A. Cruz, Jr. "The Ateneo Story." Aegis. 1959
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Teodoro A. Agoncillo. History of the Filipino People, 8th Edition. Garotech Publishing. 1990. ISBN 971-8711-06-6
  8. ^ a b c d e Horacio de la Costa, S.J. Light Cavalry.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h History of the Ateneo de Manila, 2006 and 2007 Executive Planners
  12. ^ Aegis 1965
  13. ^ a b The Guidon (official college newspaper)
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Men for Others
  16. ^ Digital Life - RP marks 7th year on the Internet
  17. ^ The Guidon. October 2002.
  18. ^ The Guidon. October 2005
  19. ^ Beyond Borders. 2005 Ateneo de Manila President's Report
  20. ^ KATIPUNAN Magazine. Issue 1, Volume 1, June 2005.
  21. ^ pre_final_layout_v01-vmc
  22. ^ KATIPUNAN Magazine. March 2006.
  23. ^ 2006 President's Report
  24. ^ lsb_aug-sept06
  25. ^ Ateneo de Manila University
  26. ^ pre_final_layout.pmd
  27. ^ Ateneo de Manila University


Ateneo de Manila University
v • d • e

Main Article

Ateneo de Manila University

Academics

Professional schools:
Graduate School of Business | Law School | School of Government | School of Medicine and Public Health
Loyola Schools:
School of Humanities | John Gokongwei School of Management | School of Science and Engineering | School of Social Sciences
Basic education units:
Grade school | High school

Athletics

UAAP | Blue Eagles

Campus

Blue Eagle Gym | Cervini-Eliazo Residence Halls | Church of the Gesù | Moro Lorenzo Sports Center

Student life

The GUIDON | Matanglawin | Heights | Ægis | Tanghalang Ateneo | Ateneo Law Journal | The Palladium

Miscellaneous

List of Ateneo de Manila University people | Manila Observatory | Ateneo de Manila University ROTC Unit