Culture and traditions of the Ateneo de Manila

Chemistry institute

The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila) is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines. Among the several articles on the Ateneo, this article deals solely with its culture and traditions.

Name

St. Thomas More

The name Ateneo goes back to the Greek temple dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The closest English translation is academy. The Society of Jesus in the Philippines established several other schools, all named Ateneo, 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.

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 Lux in Domino Award is given to an individual who has incarnated in life, and perhaps even in death, in an outstanding and exemplary manner, the noblest ideals of the Ateneo de Manila University.^[1]

Seal

In 1859 the Escuela Municipal carried the coat of arms of the city of Manila, granted by King Philip II of Spain. In 1865 when the title "Ateneo" was added to its name, the seal incorporated the Jesuit monogram "IHS" and Marian symbols. At its golden jubilee in 1909 clearer Marian symbols were added along with the current motto, Lux in Domino. In 1929 for Ateneo’s diamond jubilee Fr. Rector Richard O’Brien, S.J., introduced the present seal which replaces the arms of Manila with mostly Jesuit and Ignatian symbols.^[2]

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 of Loyola. ^[3] The shield is gold, and divided vertically. To the viewer's left is a field of gold with seven red bands. These are the arms of Oñaz, Ignatius' paternal family, which commemorates seven family heroes who fought with the Spaniards against 70,000 French, Navarese, and Gascons. To the viewer's right is a white or silver field with the arms of Loyola, Ignatius' maternal family. The arms consist of a two-eared pot hanging on a chain between two rampant wolves, which symbolize nobility. The name "Loyola" is actually a contraction of lobos y olla (wolves and pot). The name springs from the family's reputation of being able to provide so well that they could feed a pack of wolves. Above the shield is a Basque sunburst, referring to Ignatius' Basque roots, and also representing a consecrated host. It bears the letters IHS, the first three letters of "Jesus" in Greek, emblematic of the Society of Jesus.
White and blue, the Ateneo’s colours, are the colours of Mary; red and gold are the colours of Spain, home of Ignatius and of Ateneo’s Jesuit founders. These four colours mirror the Philippine flag, marking the Ateneo’s identity as a Filipino university.^[4]

Marian devotion

Ateneans value symbols of devotion to Maria Purissima (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), Queen of the Ateneo. Among them are the rosary and the October Medal of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal with a blue ribbon. The original school anthem was "Hail Ateneo, Hail", a marching tune,^[5] but in moving to Loyola Heights in the 1950s the school adopted a new graduation hymn, "A Song for Mary", which eventually supplanted "Hail Ateneo, Hail" and is now widely considered the school's anthem.^[5] Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J., wrote its lyrics and Ateneo band moderator Colonel Jose Campaña adapted the melody from Calixa Lavallée's patriotic hymn "O Canada", composed in 1880, which has served as a national anthem for Canada since 1939.^[5][6]

Colors

The Ateneo has adopted blue and white, the colors of Mary, as its official school colors. Marian blue is traditionally ultramarine, a deep ocean blue tincture derived from lapis lazuli, which historically has been used to color the vestments of Mary in paintings. But since Mary is honored as Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) and Queen of Heaven, various shades of blue, such as royal blue and sky blue, are acceptable shades of Marian blue as well.

Mascot

In the 1930s the Ateneo adopted the Blue Eagle as a symbol, and had a live eagle accompany the basketball team. The blue was from the Ateneo's colors, blue and white. The eagle suggested a "high-flying" basketball team which would "sweep the field away" as a dominating force.

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!^[7]

The eagle is also the national bird of the Philippines.

Cheering tradition

The Ateneo fielded the first-ever cheering squad in the Philippines. It is now known as the Blue Babble Battalion. The words of some of its cheers seem incomprehensible or derived from an exotic language. Loud, rapid yells of "Fabilioh" and "Halikinu" are meant to intimidate and confuse the enemy gallery. Meanwhile, fighting songs help inspire the team to "roll up a victory". The Ateneo’s brand of cheering is both unique and rooted in classical antiquity.

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.^[8]

A cheerbook, On Wings Of Blue, was published in the 1930s and has gone through major revisions, including the addition of the Song for Mary. Some of the cheers, including "Give them the axe", have been discontinued; others, such as "Go Ateneo" and the "Eight-Beat Chant", were added in the last two decades. In 1938 cheerleader Raul Manglapus composed "Blue Eagle, The King".

References