A Cross - Post: The Ateneo and its University Press

                        (The original reel can be found here!)

Ateneo's trending in the Philippines right now because two Math majors whupped the butts of international Ivy Leagues in Debate and won the world's largest debate tournament (WUDC 2023) in Madrid. Mary, for you! One big fight, woot woot! The whole country is proud of their achievement, and rightfully so! This local university's debaters beat the likes of Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, National University of Singapore, and London School of Economics. What can I say? The Jesuit reputation for being excellent educators is well-deserved, ho ho ho.

So today, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and showcase one of many books published by this university's press. I think they have a wonderfully diverse collection of books targeted not just for those in academia, but also for the everyday reader (like me!). Also, the Ateneo University Press publishes books at student-friendly prices (or in my case, teacher-salary-friendly prices), which is great!

There are other university presses, of course, such as the University of the Philippines Press, and the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. But it so happened that this teacher/reader had to be in the Ateneo campus for a * gasp * Math education seminar today, hihihi. I know it's cheesy, but I hope you enjoy this Ateneo Press book, featuring the beautifully manicured campus of the Ateneo in the background!

Gideon Lasco's THE PHILIPPINES IS NOT A SMALL COUNTRY is a collection of essays that EVERY Filipino should read, and remains a favorite.

Ateneo Press is also very brave, as they have published quite a few books that objectively analyzed (or were even critical) of past and present controversial presidencies, causing a few misguided individuals to label this university (and anyone who is a free thinker) with a dangerous color's tag.

But when we pause to consider the legacy of this educational institution (forming the soul and mind of our nation's foremost hero, Jose Rizal himself), we realize how important the Ateneo is to our society. Critical minds need critical books, so problems in our government can be acknowledged, and then solved.

The pen is mightier than the sword, they say. In the case of the Ateneo, with their patron saint, Ignatius of Loyola (himself a soldier), it is an inspiration for us Filipinos to use both ink and rapier in service of God and country.