Half the sky

Let’s begin with the most important, dry facts: the Ateneo de Manila University will be celebrating 40 years of co-education this coming Saturday, Sept. 7. Festivities begin with a Mass at the basement of the MVP Building on campus at 4 p.m. It continues with an exhibit to be opened at the Rooftop of the New Rizal Gallery. All women graduates are asked to come back home to where the Blue Eagles fly.

I came to the Ateneo (and yes, a true Atenean does add the word “the.” We’re not taught this, but rather we mysteriously imbibe the practice) in 1987 from an all-girls’ school so I will have to admit the first thing that surprised me was, um, all the boys.

How disconcerting it was to be classmates with these strange beings! The only boys I had been exposed to were older brothers and cousins so it took a while to learn the coded boy speech where the pitch of attraction was more like a hum. It never dawned on me that it was just as uncomfortable for them as well, as most of them had come from all-boys’ schools. So there we were, mixed together in classes from English to PE that first year, trying to make sense of how to deal with each other. It’s comforting to realize now, 20 years later, that those first boys I made friends with remain my closest friends until today.

As a young woman, college was a time of keen exploration. Although it was a Catholic school, it was a progressive kind of Catholicism. I was in high school when Ninoy died and was born a political person then. But the expression of my political opinion and will was hampered by youth and at the time there were no avenues for young people to be active, or so it seemed at the time. Not so in college where I was exposed to NATSITS (national situationers) which is, in and of itself, a method for studying Philippine reality.

In our classes we took up political tracts and our professors were relentless about teaching us a way to critique propaganda, to question authority, and I think most importantly, how to live consciously — the idea of choice and its power at the core of a liberal arts education. We grew up in college knowing we were privileged by the multitude of choices open to someone who was educated and we were taught to never take that for granted. As students, we wanted to eradicate the divisions between classes, and we tried to do so by dressing and living simply. It seemed an oversimplification of the problem but there was something beautiful about that idealism as well.

But it wasn’t all about being grim and determined the whole time. Perhaps part of the equation of a country in trouble is a country that is full of creativity as well. For there I was trying out all kinds of art forms — writing, singing, editing, performing — everything seemed possible; everything seems possible when one is young. My own students today ask me if there was discrimination against women during my time. Calling the Lola Basyang in me, I tell them stories of how that didn’t seem the case. Opportunities for leadership were possible for all. What separated the chaff from the grain was not gender, but passion. It was and remains a prerequisite in the university, literally, “Go big, or go home.”

Ateneo runs on slogans, catchphrases: a kind of shorthand for communication. Say the word “magis” to any of us and instantly our spines straighten, prepared for war. Say “Men and women for others” and our sights lengthen to a point where we can make a map for an ideal world. Say “preferential option for the poor” and see our hands stretch themselves to encompass all in our embrace. It is this shorthand that allows us to be excellent (that’s what magis means by the way) in all kinds of fields — because more than anything we are taught that what we do is not just for ourselves, but for others. It is simple: do unto others what you would want to do for yourself.

As we celebrate 40 years of co-education, we add a new catchphrase: “Half the sky,” from the words of Confucius. The whole line reads this way: “Women hold up half the sky.” It is shorthand for recognizing that women are co-creators of our country. It is a reminder that women are essential, not just because the future generations come through us, but just because, in the way the word just means justice.

So come home, Blue Eagles, on Sept. 7 and together let’s celebrate the sky.

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For more information regarding the event “Half the Sky” please call Liza Maramag at 426-6001 loc. 4081 or e-mail amaramag@ateneo.edu.