When was the Ateneo de Manila University founded?

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.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. 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, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.

History of the Ateneo de Manila

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. In 1623, Philip IV of Spain confirmed the authorization and in 1732 Philip V of Spain founded two "regius" (royal) professorships in the Colegio, one in canon law and another in civil law, making the school both a pontifical and a royal institution. The Colegio 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.

However, by the mid-18th century, Catholic colonial powers, notably France, Portugal, and Spain, had grown hostile to the Society of Jesus, in part because the Jesuits actively educated and empowered colonized people, restoring to them a sense of independence. Resentful of the influence the Jesuits had achieved, the colonial powers 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 did not return to the Philippines until 1859, almost a century after their expulsion.

Through an 1852 Royal Decree from Queen Isabella II, ten Spanish Jesuits arrived in Manila on April 14, 1859, nearly a century after the Jesuits' expulsion from the Philippines. Their mission was to Mindanao and Jolo in the far South. But because of the Jesuits' entrenched reputation as educators among Manila’s leaders, on August 5 the "Ayuntamiento" or city council requested the Governor-General to found and finance a Jesuit school using public funds. On October 1, 1859, he 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 December 10, 1859. The Ateneo de Manila University considers this its foundation day.

Partly subsidized by the "Ayuntamiento", the "Escuela" was the only primary school in Manila at the time. The Escuela changed its name to Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1865, when it became accredited as an institute of secondary education. It began by offering the "bachillerato", as well as certificates in agriculture, surveying, and business. José Rizal, who would later be named a national hero of the Philippines, enrolled for his secondary studies in 1872, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1877, continuing studies at the Ateneo for a license in land surveying.

After Americans occupied the Philippines in the early 1900s, the Ateneo lost its funding from the city and became a private institution. The Jesuits removed the word "Municipal" from the school’s name 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 bachelor's degree and certificates in various disciplines, including electrical engineering. The Ateneo campus housed other independent Jesuit institutions of research and learning, such as the Manila Observatory and San José Major Seminary.

American Jesuits replaced their Spanish brethren in 1912. The original campus at Intramuros in the heart of old Manila was destroyed by fire in 1932 and the Ateneo moved to the San Jose Major Seminary grounds in Padre Faura, Ermita. Again during World War II the Ateneo campus was devastated. It 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. In 1952, Fr. William F. Masterson, S.J., moved most of the Ateneo units to its present Loyola Heights campus. 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. In 1959, its centennial year, the Ateneo became a university.

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 gripped the 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 for 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 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 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 1978 the Ateneo joined the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. In February 1978, the Ateneo opened the Ateneo-Univac Computer Technology Center, one of the country’s pioneering computer centers, which later became the Ateneo Computer Technology Center.

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.

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.

In 1991, the Ateneo joined in relief operations to help victims of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. That same year saw the School of Law replace its Bachelor of Laws degree with 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. 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.

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. 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. On January 20, 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 him 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 Cardinal Jaime Sin. The year also saw the Blue Eagles end a 14-year drought in men's basketball.

In 2003, the Ateneo partnered with Gawad Kalinga in its first formal, university-wide social action program. Also, 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 which has continued to contribute to disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas that include Calatagan in Mindoro and Guinsaugon in Southern Leyte. Also in 2004 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). And the Ateneo celebrated the 145th anniversary of its founding and of the Jesuits' return to the Philippines, even as plans began for 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. In light of the political crisis sparked by allegations of President Arroyo's cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, Ateneo de Manila in 2005 established the Social Involvement Workshops and other fora. The Ateneo also established more tie-ups and foreign linkages, and began preparation for the Leong Center for Chinese Studies in the university.

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. 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. It expanded the scope of its involvement with Gawad Kalinga, supporting new initiatives throughout Nueva Ecija and in other provinces such as Cotobato and Quezon.

Midway through 2006, the Manuel V Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership was completed. The University also had ground-breaking for several projects: the Ricardo Leong Hall to house several units of the Loyola Schools' School of Social Sciences, the Confucius Institute for Chinese Studies, and the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health facility in Ortigas. In December, the Ateneo 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.

In October 2008, 66 faculty members from different departments, including members of the Theology Department, challenged the position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the Reproductive Health Bill pending before the Philippine Congress, and declared that Catholics can support the RH bill in good conscience. The bill would encourage the use of contraceptives to bring down the large number of abortions in the country. University President Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J., explained that their position was not an official position of the university but that these faculty members had a right to express their views as individual Catholics and that there should be continuing efforts on the critical study and discussion of the bill among Church groups, at the university and in civil society.
In November 2008, the university began work on building a new Rizal Library facility. In December, a new set of university dormitories was inaugurated. The Ateneo High School was granted Level III accreditation by the PAASCU, the highest level in the country.

In September and October 2009, students from the university organised Task Force Ondoy in response to Typhoon Ketsana. The task force conducted relief operations in various areas struck hard by the typhoon, particularly in Marikina City.

In May 2011, the university was granted Level IV Re-Accredited Status and Institutional Accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) and the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU), the first time that both citations were awarded to a university simultaneously. In 2011 Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J., retired from the presidency of Ateneo and was succeeded by Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J. On November 25, 2011 the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) awarded the Ateneo de Manila Loyola Schools Level IV Re-accreditation for 21 academic programmemes as well as Institutional Accreditation.

Ateneo has graduated two Nobel Peace Prize nominees, two Ramon Magsaysay awardees, and José Rizal, National Hero of the Philippines. Several Philippine Presidents, including the former president Benigno Aquino III, as well as his predecessors Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Joseph Estrada, Fidel Ramos, and Corazon Aquino are alumni or have ties with the university. The Ateneo has been associated with three Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, fifteen Senators, one National Scientist, and four National Artists of the Philippines, including Lamberto Avellana and Salvador Bernal. Among its graduates are several leaders of the propaganda movement during the Philippine Revolution against Spain, including Juan Luna.

The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila;" Spanish:" Universidad Ateneo de Manila") is a private Roman Catholic research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines. Ateneo offers elementary and secondary education exclusively to male students (and has recently opened the Senior High School to girls). The undergraduate and graduate programmes are coeducational and organised into four schools, collectively known as the Loyola Schools, which are located at its main campus at Loyola Heights. Four professional schools occupy campuses in different parts of Metro Manila.

Ateneo de Manila University

Ateneo undergraduates follow a Catholic-rooted liberal arts curriculum throughout their programmes in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, or Business Management. The Commission on Higher Education has recognized its units in biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, information technology, entrepreneurship education, English literature, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and business administration as Centers of Excellence while the communication, electronics engineering, environmental science, history, Filipino literature, and political science units have been declared Centres of Development. The Loyola Heights campus also hosts two chemistry research centres: Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) and National Chemistry Instrumentation Centre (NCIC).

Ateneo offers programmes at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Its academic offerings include the arts, humanities, business, law, the social sciences, philosophy, theology, medicine and public health, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, environmental science, diplomacy, and government, with forty-eight Bachelor of Arts (AB), Bachelor of Science (BS), and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees at the undergraduate level. At the postgraduate level there are forty-four Master of Arts (MA) and Master of Science (MS) degrees, six Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes, two Master of Laws concentrations, one Master of Public Management (MPM) degree, two professional Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Juris Doctor (JD) programmes, and twelve Doctor of Philosophy degrees. As is common in the Philippines, the primary medium of instruction is English, with a few classes taught in Filipino. Aside from teaching and research, the Ateneo de Manila also engages in social outreach. Known for its liberal arts tradition, the humanities are a key feature of Ateneo education at all levels of study. In 2015, QS Top Universities placed the university's undergraduate programmes 461st in the world and 114th in Asia.

The Ateneo Professional Schools (APS) is the main professional education division of Ateneo de Manila, and comprises the following four schools. The Ateneo Graduate School of Business offers a variety of Master of Business Administration concentrations, including a Master in Health Services Administration. The Ateneo Law School confers the Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees. The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, opened in 2007, offers an integrated Doctor of Medicine and Master of Business Administration programme. The Ateneo School of Government confers the Master in Public Management and Ph.D. in Leadership Studies degrees. The professional schools also confer certificates for short courses.Loyola Schools offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts and sciences. It confers the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. It is composed of four schools, the School of Humanities, the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Science and Engineering, and the School of Social Sciences.

A key feature of the Loyola Schools is a liberal arts undergraduate core curriculum, required for all undergraduates. It includes philosophy, English and Filipino literature, theology, history, various branches of social sciences, and a community service component. Ateneo follows the semester hour system common in American universities. Most classes are held below 40 students and student discussion is encouraged. The Loyola Schools' programs are geared toward student-centreedness. Ateneo was one of the first schools in the Philippines to enact a Magna Carta for Undergraduates.

The Commission on Higher Education has designated several departments and programmes of the Loyola Schools as centres of excellence (COEs) and Centers of Development (CODs). Ateneo has Centers of Excellence in: Business Administration, Chemistry, English, Entrepreneurship, Information Technology, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology and Sociology. It has Centers of Development in Biology, Environmental Science and Filipino.

Ateneo de Manila Senior High School ("ASHS") is a Catholic senior high school for both male and female students. The high school was originally male-only but due to the K-12 program, Ateneo opened its doors to female students in the senior high school level.

It includes the original 3rd year and 4th year level (now called 'grade 11' and 'grade 12' respectively) of the old Ateneo High School curriculum. In terms of curriculum options, the ASHS offers all four strands of the K-12 program's Academic Track: 1.) the Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) Strand; 2.) the General Academic (GA) Strand; 3.) the Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS) Strand; and 4.) the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Management (STEM) Strand. The ASHS currently occupies the new senior high school building topped off in 2016.

Carmela "Mel" Oracion, EdD served as the first principal of Ateneo Senior High School. She served as principal for SY 2016–2017 and SY 2017–2018. She was replaced by Maria Victoria "Bitchik" Panlilio-Dimalanta as principal for SY 2018–2019.

Ateneo de Manila Junior High School ("AJHS"), originally called 'Ateneo High School,' was established to comply with the country's K-12 education system. It includes the former grade 7 (now renamed grade 7) of the old Ateneo Grade School curriculum and the original 1st year and 2nd year level (now called 'grade 9' and 'grade 10' respectively) of the old Ateneo High School curriculum. It currently occupies the old Ateneo High School campus.

The AJHS follows the 'cluster system' (or 'house system' in English parlance). The AJHS is divided according to the following four clusters: 1.) the Cardoner Cluster [consisting of four grade 7 sections, four grade 8 sections, four grade 9 sections, and four grade 10 sections]; 2.) the La Storta Cluster [consisting of four grade 7 sections, four grade 8 sections, four grade 9 sections, and four grade 10 sections]; 3.) the Montserrat Cluster [consisting of three grade 7 sections, four grade 8 sections, four grade 9 sections, and three grade 10 sections]; and the Pamplona Cluster [consisting of three grade 7 sections, three grade 8 sections, three grade 9 sections, and three grade 10 sections]. The clusters are named after special places in St. Ignatius's life. Each cluster has dedicated class moderators, subject teachers, guidance counselors, immersion coordinators, and staff to cater to the specific needs of the students. The cluster is led by a "Cluster Coordinator" who serves as a mini-principal to the cluster and organizes a variety of activities such as the Cluster Advancement Program (CLAP) along other programs.

AJHS offers the following subjects as part of its curriculum: Araling Panlipunan, Arts, Christian Living Education, Computer Education, English, Filipino, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, and Science. English, Filipino, Mathematics, and Science offers a "regular program" and an "honors program". Students who choose to pursue the honors program are pulled out from their sections and are put in a separate class with a more advanced program.

The AJHS student body is governed by the "Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng Nakababatang Mataas na Paaralang Ateneo de Manila" (Sanggu-JHS). The Sanggu-JHS is led by a chairman, alongside three vice-chairs who supervises each branch of the Sanggu-JHS. These branches include the following: the "Assembly of Class Officers" or the ACO (which involves the governance of all class officers in each section and batch), the "Council of Student Organizations" or the CSO (which involves the governance of all officers in each org and 'groups of orgs' known as "villages"), and the Athletics Council or the AthC (which involves the governance of all varsity officers and 'groups of varsities' known as "blocs"). The chairman and the other three vice-chairs are aided by a Sanggu-JHS Secretary-General and a Finance Officer.

The AJHS campus has one library, the Instructional Technology Center, the Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan (Dulaang Sibol), and a large athletics complex with one of the largest school-based covered courts facilities in the country. In 2003 the high school opened a Center for Math, Science and Technology (commonly known as "MST") containing science and computer labs, classrooms for the special math and science classes (Honors Math and Science, Sections X and S), and a faculty room.

The AJHS's religious formation programme includes a Christian Service and Involvement Program (CSIP) with the Dungaw-Exposure Trip for freshmen, a Damá-Christian Service Program for sophomores, the Damay Immersion and Gawad Kalinga Programs for juniors, and Tulong Dunong programme for seniors, besides recollections and retreats. It also was the birthplace of the retreat program, Days With the Lord.

Carmela C. Oracion, EdD served as the first principal of the Ateneo Junior High School. She served as "officer-in-charge" of the transition AJHS from SY 2013–2014 and SY 2014–2015; she then became its first full-fledged principal from SY 2015–2016 until SY 2017–2018. She was replaced by Mr Jose Antonio "Jonny" Salvador as principal in SY 2018–2019.

Ateneo de Manila Grade School is an elementary school for boys with a population of around 4,000 students before 2014, when it dropped the Prep level and kept grades First through Sixth, while contemplating adding kindergarten. Ateneo Grade School is one of the first elementary schools in the Philippines to adopt the Singapore math curriculum.

The Loyola School of Theology is a Jesuit school of theology and pastoral studies, run separately from but federated with Ateneo de Manila University. It offers baccalaureate, licentiate, and doctoral ecclesiastical degrees in theology, as well as postgraduate degrees in theological studies, theology, and pastoral ministry from Ateneo de Manila University. It also supports the theology and religious education postgraduate programmes of Ateneo Loyola Schools' Department of Theology.

Some of Ateneo de Manila's most active research hubs work in the fields of disaster risk, prevention and management; public education; migration; and governance. The university houses several research centres, and has many links with industry partners, government agencies and research networks. Some research centres, called auxiliary units, are established by the university board of trustees, others are organized by individual schools or departments.

Ateneo publishes the following scholarly journals: Kritika Kultura, Asian Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities, Budhi,, The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, Landas, and Social Transformations: Journal of the Global South.

The Ateneo de Manila University is part of the following networks and academic consortia:

International

Local

Ateneo has grounded its vision and mission in the Jesuit educational tradition which engages with the world at large, leading the university to be involved in civic activities. Social involvement is a key part of Ateneo education, integrated into the curricula of practically all university programmes. Social entrepreneurship is also integrated into many of its academic programmes.

Ateneo's social projects include the Ateneo-Mangyan Project for Understanding and Development (AMPUD) and Bigay Puso in grade school and the Christian Service and Involvement Program, Damay Immersion, and Tulong Dunong programme for senior students in high school. In college, social development is fostered by programmes of the Office of Social Concern and Involvement, including house-builds with Gawad Kalinga, and the Ateneeo Labor Trials Program tied into junior Philosophy classes. Student organizations and offices of the Loyola Schools also operate their own social involvement programmes. At the Ateneo Professional Schools, programmes and units like the Graduate School of Business' Mulat-Diwa, the Leaders for Health Program, the Law School's Human Rights Center and Legal Aid programmes aim to form leaders. Other Ateneo initiatives include Pathways to Higher Education for gifted, underprivileged youth and Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) which conducts national teacher and principal training programmes.

The centrepiece social programme of the university is its university-wide social action programme in partnership with Gawad Kalinga which has helped build communities and schools in Payatas, Quezon City, in many Nueva Ecija municipalities, and in three villages in Bicol. GK-Ateneo has also driven Kalinga Luzon, the massive rehabilitation effort for victims of the late 2004 Luzon typhoons, GK Youth-Ateneo, arguably the largest and most active student social programme of Ateneo, Kalinga Leyte, an ongoing programme which aims to provide long-term rehabilitation for the victims of the Southern Leyte landslide, and ongoing reconstruction efforts for typhoon-stricken Bicol.

The Ugat Foundation, an apostolate for grassroots families, is also located at Ateneo.

Ateneo has international linkages with several universities, institutions, and organizations, particularly in Asia, Australasia, North and South America, and Europe. Through these cooperative efforts, the university hosts visiting faculty and research fellows from institutions abroad, and in turn, Ateneo faculty members also engage in teaching, research, and study in institutions abroad. International cooperation also includes active student exchange through Philippine immersion programmes for a month or two for small groups of 15–18 students or full study programmes wherein students from partner institutions abroad take regular courses.

Students of the John Gokongwei School of Management, the School of Social Sciences, the School of Science and Engineering and the School of Humanities can also sign up for the Junior Term Abroad programme, which allows them to spend a semester in one of Ateneo's partner schools for undergraduate studies.

Since 2008, the Global Leadership Program was started for students from four Catholic, Jesuit universities in East Asia: Ateneo de Manila University in The Philippines, Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, Sogang University in South Korea, and Sophia University in Japan.

Currently, the main Ateneo de Manila campus is an property in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Metro Manila. This campus is home to the university's undergraduate (college) and graduate schools units, as well as its senior and junior high schools and the grade school. Two other campuses, in Rockwell Center and Salcedo Village, both in Makati, house the university's professional schools of business, law, and government. A fourth facility in the Don Eugenio López Sr. Medical Complex in Ortigas Center, Pasig, houses its school of medicine and public health.

Overlooking the Marikina Valley, the 83-hectare (205 acres) main campus is located in Loyola Heights, along the eastern side of Katipunan Avenue, and is south of and adjacent to the campus of Miriam College. The Grade School, High School, and Loyola Schools are located in Ateneo's Loyola Heights campus. Beside the Grade School is the Henry Lee Irwin Theater, built in 1995 to house the school's formal events and productions. Complementing 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. In 2018, the university inaugurated Areté, Ateneo's creative hub, a center for visual, practical, and performing arts. Areté houses the Ateneo Art Gallery, Hyundai Hall (a 900-seat theater), the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Black Box Theater, the Unionbank Ubuntu Space, and spaces for Ateneo's collaborative degree program with Le Cordon Bleu. The Department of Fine Arts and the Ateneo Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching also hold office in Areté.

Within this campus is the Rizal Library, the main university library. Also located here are numerous units and research centres affiliated with Ateneo, such as the Institute of Social Order, Institute of Philippine Culture, Institute on Church and Social Issues, Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowships, the Philippine Institute for Pure and Applied Chemistry, the Jesuit Communications Foundation, the Jesuit Basic Education Commission, and others. Also situated here are the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Loyola School of Theology, and San Jose Seminary, all Jesuit formation institutions federated with the Ateneo de Manila University. The Manila Observatory is also located on campus.
Athletic facilities include the Blue Eagle Gym, also known as the Loyola Center, standing at the southern end of the campus, and the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center (MLSC) on the northern end. The Blue Eagle 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 Gesù, completed in July 2002, stands on top of Sacred Heart Hill and overlooks the rest of the campus. The school's chapels include the St. Stanislaus Kostka Chapel and the Chapel of the First Companions 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. Not a part of the university but located on its campus is San Jose Major Seminary also has a chapel. Moreover, within walking distance of the campus are two parish churches: Our Lady of Pentecost and Santa María della Strada which includes the university in its territory.

While the majority of its students live in Metro Manila, the university has three on-campus dormitories for college students: Cervini Hall, Eliazo Hall, and the University Dormitory. Located near the Loyola Schools, Cervini accommodates approximately two hundred male students, while Eliazo houses one hundred and sixty female students. The University Dormitory, completed in 2008, houses six hundred students. Other dormitories which are also open to college and graduate school students are those of the [Institute of Social Order], Arrupe International Residence, and the East Asian Pastoral Institute. Those who desire to live off-campus reside in nearby accredited dormitories and condominiums such as Oracle Residences, FBR Building, Xanland Plaza, One Burgundy Plaza, Prince David Condominium, and Berkeley Residences, sharing study and living areas with students from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and Miriam College.

The Ateneo de Manila is also home to the largest Jesuit community in the Philippines, most of whom reside at the Jesuit Residence in the Loyola Heights campus. These Jesuits are involved in teaching, administration, and research within the university and its affiliated units.

Recently, the majority of the units in the Loyola Schools Campus have been participating in the environmental initiatives started at the student organization and administrative levels. These have been grouped under the banner of the Ateneo Environmental Management Coalition, resulting in major changes in student lifestyle and resource management all over campus.

The Rockwell Centre campus of the Ateneo de Manila University houses the Law School, Graduate School of Business, School of Government, AGSB-BAP Institute of Banking, and the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education. The campus was donated by the Lopez Group of Companies to the Ateneo de Manila University. It includes several research centres, a moot court facility, and the Ateneo Professional Schools Library.

The Salcedo Village campus houses the different facilities of the former Ateneo Information Technology Institute (AITI) and the Ateneo Center for Continuing Education (CCE). This facility formerly housed the Professional Schools prior to the completion of the Rockwell campus in 1998.

The Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health at the Don Eugenio López Sr. Medical Complex in Ortigas Centre, Pasig, opened its doors to its pioneering batch of students in June 2007. Beside the ASMPH is its partner hospital, The Medical City.

The Ateneo library system comprises several libraries housed in the Loyola Heights campus and the Professional Schools campus. The university's main library is the Rizal Library located in Loyola Heights. The Ateneo Professional Schools Library is housed in the Professional Schools building. Also included in the library system are the libraries of the Ateneo grade school, high school, and those of the East Asian Pastoral Institute and the Loyola School of Theology. Libraries of other Jesuit universities in Naga, Zamboanga, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro are linked to the Ateneo de Manila Libraries.

In 2007, the Rizal Library's resources were estimated at more than 500,000 items. It housed rare Filipiniana items including a permanent exhibit of Rizal memorabilia, the Trinidad Pardo de Tavera collection, the American Historical Collection, the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings (ALIWW), and other special collections and manuscripts by Filipino scholars, writers, and artists. A new five-storey Rizal Library building was completed in 2009 and opened in November of the same year, housing the library's circulation section, the undergraduate and graduate reserve sections, the multimedia collection, the periodicals collection, the Japanese collection, online database access terminals, an information commons, and the Library's technical services facilities. The former Rizal Library building will now be known as the Rizal Library Special Collection, and houses the Microform Reading Center, Art Book Collection, Filipiniana Section, American Historical Collection, the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings, the Pardo de Tavera Collection, and the Theses and Dissertations collection.

The Professional Schools Library holds one of the largest collections of materials in the fields of law, business, and government in the Philippines.

The Ateneo Art Gallery is housed in the Arts Wing, Areté. The gallery is the first museum of modern art in the Philippines, and is the only museum in the country dedicated to the collection, display, and interpretation of Philippine modern art. The heart of its collection is a large selection of post-war art donated to the university by Fernando Zóbel de Ayala.

The University Archives are housed in the Rizal Library annex building. Since 1958 it has served as the central repository of non-current records of the administrative offices, academic departments, and student organizations. Among its collections are papers and documents from key university people, relics and personal effects of alumni, some archived publications, theses, and dissertations, as well as other materials such as maps, photographs, and art work.

The Ateneo de Manila University is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Ernesto Tanmantiong, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jollibee Foods Corporation. A central administration, led by University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J., oversees key initiatives related to academics, international programmes, university development and alumni relations, personnel, security, and other university-wide concerns. Fr. Villarin succeeded Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J., on 1 June 2011.
Individual units and departments are usually led by a vice president, with the exception of the basic education units which are led by a director who oversees the leadership of both the high school's principal and the grade school's headmaster. The Loyola schools and professional schools are led by their respective vice presidents who oversee school deans, who in turn oversee department chairs and programme directors.

In 2005, the academic programs of the Loyola Schools have been granted Level IV accreditation—the highest possible level—from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) and the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). In 2011 it was also granted Institutional Accreditation by the same body, the first time that both citations were awarded to a university simultaneously. Ateneo de Manila is one of few universities granted autonomous status by CHED, which likewise recognizes a number of the university's programmes and departments as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development.
The grade school and high school divisions both have the highest (level III) of accreditation from PAASCU and FAAP.

There are over 50 accredited college student organisations in the Loyola Schools. Among these is the Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League, founded in 1907, one of the oldest student organizations in the Philippines.

The Ateneo College Glee Club (ACGC) is the oldest extant university chorale in the Philippines. ACGC has participated in numerous international choral and choir competitions including the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.

The Ateneo Debate Society, the premier undergraduate debate organization of Ateneo, is the highest-ranking debate team in the Philippines and Asia, and often in the top 10 of the World University Debate Rankings since the mid-2000s, peaking at no. 7 in 2012. It is currently in 13th place.

The Ateneo de Manila High School's Dulaang Sibol, which began as the Ateneo High School Dramatics Society in 1955, is the oldest existing theater group in the Philippines.

The Ateneo has produced four Presidents of the Philippines and its alumni have been influential in national politics and in the business sector.

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

Culture and traditions of the Ateneo de Manila

The name "Ateneo" is derived from the Latin word "Athenaeum", a temple dedicated to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. The closest English gloss 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.

The university 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 1901. The motto first appeared as part of the Ateneo seal introduced by Father Rector Joaquin Añon, S.J., for the 1909 Golden Jubilee. It comes from Paul the Apostle's Epistle to the Ephesians, 5.8:

The Lux in Domino Award is given to an individual who has embodied by their life, and perhaps even death, in an outstanding and exemplary manner, the noblest ideals of the Ateneo de Manila University.

In 1859, the Escuela Municipal bore the coat of arms of the City of Manila, which were granted by King Philip II of Spain in 1596. When the title "Ateneo" was added to the school's name in 1865, 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.

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.

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.

The white and blue are the school colours and those 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.

Ateneans value symbols of devotion to "María la Purísima Concepción" (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), Queen of the Ateneo. Among them are the rosary and the October Medal, which is a Miraculous Medal dangling from a blue ribbon, and pinned to the left breast.

The original school anthem was "Hail Ateneo, Hail", a marching tune adapted from "Fordham Ram", the fight song of the Jesuit-run Fordham University. Upon moving to Loyola Heights in the 1950s, the school adopted "A Song for Mary" as its graduation hymn and is now widely considered the school anthem. Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J., wrote its lyrics and Ateneo band moderator Colonel José Campaña adapted the melody from the patriotic hymn "O Canada". The tune, composed by Calixa Lavallée in 1880, was officially made a national anthem of Canada in 1980.

The Ateneo has adopted blue and white, the colors of Mary, as its official school colors. Marian blue is traditionally ultramarine, an expensive, ocean-blue tincture derived from ground lapis lazuli that was historically used in paintings to identify the Virgin Mary. Mary is honored as "Stella Maris" ("Star of the Sea") and Queen of Heaven, other shades such as royal blue and sky blue, are commonly used as symbols of Mary.

In the 1930s, the Ateneo adopted the Blue Eagle as its symbol, and had a live eagle accompany the basketball team. The eagle suggested a "high-flying" basketball team which would "sweep the field away" as a dominating force, and took its colours from those of the school.
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 is also the national bird of the Philippines.

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.
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".

Being a scion of one of the most prominent families of Manila during the last years of Spanish colonial period, he was among the first students of the Ateneo de Manila University when it was founded in 1859 and known as the "Ateneo Municipal de Manila". After completing his primary and secondary education, he enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas, where he graduated in 1875 with a degree Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, specializing in Botany and Zoology. The following year, he was licensed to practice Pharmacy.

León María Guerrero

León María Guerrero y Leogardo (January 21, 1853–April 13, 1935) was a Filipino writer, revolutionary leader, politician, the first licensed pharmacist in the Philippines, and one of the most eminent botanists in the country in his time.

León María was one of the 14 children of León Jorge Guerrero and Clara Leogardo. He was born on January 21, 1853 in Ermita, Manila. His brother, Lorenzo, became a painter and a teacher of Juan Luna. He painted the altar of the San Sebastian Church in Quiapo, Manila. León Jorge was the uncle of poet-politician, Fernando María Guerrero, who won a seat at the Philippine Assembly in 1907. He is the grandfather of diplomat León María Guerrero III (his namesake) and pre-eminent writer Carmen Guerrero Nakpil.

Guerrero was appointed head of the military pharmacy in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur and at the marine hospital in Kawit, Cavite. Later, he would manage the popular Binondo Pharmacy in Manila.

His scientific curiosity led him to study the therapeutic uses of Philippine plants, from which he extracted pharmacological ingredients.

In 1889, he was appointed member of the council of health of the Manila City Council and was enrolled as a member of the "Sociedad Española de Historia Natural". He was also invited to be an auditor and associate of the "La Revista Internacional de Farmacografia".

His accomplishments also earned him an appointment as chemical expert of the "Audiencia Real", the supreme court during the Spanish colonial period.

He also pursued special studies in ornithology and lepidopterology, securing him a position as zoologist in the forestry bureau of the Spanish colonial government.

Despite his links to the colonial bureaucracy, Guerrero openly joined the independence struggle when the Philippine Revolution of 1896 broke out.

He was named professor of Pharmacy of the Universidad Literaria de Filipinas, which was founded by the Philippine Revolutionary Government on October 19, 1898. He was a member of the Malolos Congress and the Malolos Constitution. This gave birth to the First Philippine Republic.

While serving as professor at the literary university which was then based in Bulacan and Tarlac provinces, he also contributed to "La Independencia", the official organ of the revolutionary movement, edited by revolutionary general Antonio Luna.

When President Emilio Aguinaldo formed his cabinet in 1899, he named Guerrero secretary of agriculture, industry and commerce.

After the collapse of the First Philippine Republic, Guerrero returned to Manila. He was among the former revolutionists who founded the "Asociacion de Paz" to re-establish peace in the country. He was among the founders of the "Partido Democrata" (Democratic Party) which advocated absolute Philippine independence from the United States, but through peaceful means.

He was among those who founded the Liceo de Manila and became its president until May 1903. He became chairman of the board of the Pharmaceutical Union and member of the American Pharmaceutical Society.

In 1907, he was elected delegate to the First Philippine Assembly and named president of the committee on public instruction which entitled him to a seat in the board of regents of the University of the Philippines, which would be established the following year.

After his stint in national politics, Guerrero returned to teaching and became dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Santo Tomas. He also served as assistant director of the Bureau of Census and an official of the Bureau of Science.

Some of his important works are "Notas Preliminares Sobre Las Materiales Colorantes Vegetales de Filipinas", "Drogas Vegetales de Filipinas", "Medicinal Plants of the Philippine Islands" and "Medicinal Uses of Philippine Plants".

In recognition of his work in botany, taxonomists named a genus of plants, "Guerreroia monocephala", and a species of orchids, "Dendrobium guerreroi", in his honor.

In 1921, the University of the Philippines conferred on Guerrero a degree of Doctor of Science "honoris causa".

Guerrero died on April 13, 1935 at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife Aurora Domínguez, and sons, Cesar María and Alfredo Leon Maria, a physician.

Guerrero's daughter-in-law, and Alfredo's wife, Filomena Francisco, was his pupil, and became the first female pharmacist of the Philippines.

Guerrero Nakpil, Carmen, Myself, Elsewhere (Nakpil Publishing:San ) 2006 (Part 1, autobiography, author describes like with her grandfather Leon Ma. Guerrero)