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What happened was clearly a crisis that needed swift action and response on the part of Ateneo de Manila administrators. Instead, what became visible was prolonged silence and the absence of a human face and a human voice that could have shown what a 'man for others' truly was.
Disclosure: I’m a Philosophy graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, was shaped by its values and principles — including a preferential option for the poor and high regard for social justice, justice, and the rule of law. I was immersed in its “man/woman for others” mantra, and am fully appreciative of the need for humility, cognizant of the reality that we can never claim to know everything. I continue to be a work in progress and am far from perfect.
Those who spent more than my four years in college abide by AMDG — Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (all for the greater glory of God) — and even inscribe it at the top of their assignments and written work (I saw this when I taught for just one year at the Ateneo High School after graduation).
The emphasis has been on a higher purpose, above personal gain, doing one’s very best beyond the mediocre and ordinary. The concept of magis, of excellence in most, if not everything, we do, was emphasized even to faculty members. I’ve been teaching part-time since the 1990s at the college level (and briefly at the graduate level) after post-graduate studies in journalism at Columbia, thanks to financial assistance from Ateneo. I felt the compulsion to shape future journalists who will take on the crucial task of reporting the truth with accuracy, fairness, and courage.
