The Ateneo de Manila University recently celebrated 40 years of coeducation with the theme “40 years, half the sky.” Paraphrasing Mao Zedong’s famous quote, “women hold up half the sky,” Ateneo recognizes women’s significant role in the development of a free and peaceful society.
Here’s a timeline of how it happened:
1968: Rev. James Culligan, SJ, and Fr. Thomas Steinbugler, SJ, first made the proposal for a coeducational system in the Ateneo de Manila University. Initial discussions, however, showed a guarded stance toward coeducation, and the University Senate voted against it.
1969: The Academic Council voted in favor of coeducation. It proposed that admission be made of 100 women, together with 300 men, for the freshman class of 1970-1971. A college-wide plebiscite was made and showed that a majority of the student body, the faculty and some alumni were beginning to warm up to the idea. But it would still take some time.
June 1973: Some 10 percent of the members of the University Senate were in favor of coeducation. Ateneo finally opened its doors to its first 162 female undergraduates. The women strove to excel in their academics and extracurricular activities. They did so not to compete with the men, but to show that they were just as competent. The men, in turn, began warming up to the women, even proposing that everyone wear a toga at graduation instead of the Barong Tagalog and Filipiniana dress that would create a distinction between the sexes.
1975: The first six women transferees to graduate from the Ateneo were Ma. Lorenza Dalupan-Palm (AB Sociology Anthropology), Vivian Dy-Gordon (BS Management), Lourdes Josephine Gotianun-Yap (BS Management), Ma. Barbara Jacinto-Pineda (AB Sociology-Anthropology), Ma. Sophia Lizares-Bodegon (AB Sociology-Anthropology) and Nina Picache-King (BS Management).
1977: The first batch of coeds graduated—three of them magna cum laude, three cum laude and five honorable mention.
1978: Ateneo had its first female summa cum laudes: Maria Assunta Caoile-Cuyegkeng (BS Chemistry) and Maria Natividad Ozaeta Lebron (AB Psychology).
1979: Ateneo had its first female valedictorian: Maria Cecilia Gonzales-Soriano (BS Management Engineering).
1970 to 1980: One in every six women in Ateneo graduated with honors.
A decade after the coeducation program, the women of Ateneo found themselves adjusting again to a changing environment—this time as advocates for democracy and justice. Through the end of martial law in 1981; the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983; and the assassination of Evelio Javier and the Edsa Revolution of 1986, Ateneo coeds did their part as proponents of the work to rebuild the nation.
1984: The first female Sanggunian president, Maria Stella Mendoza Flores (AB Interdisciplinary Studies), was elected into office.
Arts in the Ateneo began flourishing almost 25 years after coeducation. Through various forms of expression, women artists began making creative contributions in various fields.
Writers and visual artists began their careers in the pages of publications such as The Guidon, Matanglawin and Heights.
Theater artists first took to the stage via Tanghalang Ateneo, Entablado or Blue Repertory.
1994: First batch of freshmen to have more females (518) than males (483)
From 1976 to 2013, there have been 2,336 women who have graduated with honors: 37 summa cum laude; 227 magna cum laude; 929 cum laude; and 1,349 honorable mentions.
2001: Roselle Ambubuyog (BS Math), Ateneo’s first visually impaired coed, graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian.
Today: 4,377 young women are enrolled at the Ateneo, comprising 51 percent of the total college student population.
Forty years since the implementation of coeducation, the Ateneo de Manila University has produced exceptional alumnae who have not only brought pride to their alma mater, but have also contributed significantly to the Philippines.