by Dani Santos and Aliya Janeo 

Established by the Spanish Jesuits in 1859, the Ateneo de Manila University is a Filipino Catholic institution whose values are rooted in the Jesuit faith. Being one of the oldest Catholic universities in the Philippines, one may expect Ateneo to be strict with policies that concern gender and expression. Yet, aligning with Ateneo’s vision to be a “collaborative and engaged leader in the work of social transformation through education,” the university exerts effort to ensure safe spaces and gender sensitivity and inclusivity within the campus. 

According to Aina Martin, a care responder and hub companion from the University Gender Hub and the point person of the Gender Hub in the Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (ASHS), three (3) university-wide offices work together to achieve gender inclusivity inside the campus. These three offices include the University Gender and Development Office, which oversees and monitors anything that happens gender-related and proposes policies that could be done; the University Gender Hub, which provides care and support for those who may have experienced any gender-based violence; and the University Office of Decorum and Investigation, which responds to and investigates any gender-based violence. In addition, the University Gender Hub does advocacy work like Pride Month and Women’s Month while also implementing gender sensitivity training. 

Yet, the journey to becoming a more progressive institution comes with challenges, particularly in its implementation and fulfillment, starting with the small sectors in Ateneo, such as its senior high school unit. This leads us to question whether or not gender sensitivity can be felt in the ASHS amidst all of Ateneo’s efforts and initiatives toward the achieving inclusivity within the campus.

Mapping The Gender Hub

Considering how The Gender Hub is not a one-man team, it’s no surprise that they are in contact with inclusivity-catered organizations within the ASHS like Lakambini and Mayari. Under these involvements’ and The Gender Hub’s advocacies, they have projects like the Safe Spaces Conversations— where they talk about topics that are rarely discussed, with the Gender Hub facilitating. 

According to Martin when recalling their experience with one of the past conversations: “A lot of the students felt they finally had a place to feel safe… finally felt like they were allowed to be themselves, and if anything that’s what we really strive for.”

When it comes to the Gender Hub’s gender sensitivity training, they always emphasize the validity of all sexualities, gender identities, and gender expressions. After all, just because gender doesn’t fit into one binary, it doesn’t make it any less valid or worth acknowledging. In fact, one of the first things we were introduced to in the ASHS was gender sensitivity; with slide presentations on SHOrSem day, and the first guidance session during Homeroom. 

Additionally, Martin also describes that little things such as teachers asking how their classes can be more inclusive, a gender neutral dress code, and all-gender washrooms matter and can go a long way. They also appreciate when students speak up, as although The Gender Hub is spread out throughout Ateneo, there are only so few representatives in the ASHS. Not everyone is obligated to share their story, but Martin expresses how much they’d want to hear more voices and experiences in the ASHS to potentially help more individuals and develop the Gender Hub’s expertise. Progress, although slow, will go a long way. 

Then again, for a Catholic institution like Ateneo being so open to shifting to a more inclusive and safer environment, it goes to show that the fruits of change will grow eventually. Ateneo becoming a safe space will benefit more than just the students, but everyone in the community as a whole. After all, inclusivity means for everyone, not just for someone, right?

To sum up Martin’s perspective on the ASHS as an inclusive space: “It’s not really inclusivity yet, but more of sensitivity and receptiveness… Definitely we’re not there yet, but the effort really shows that there is the intention to become more inclusive.”

On the other hand, ASHS also has its own Mayari Committee, a student-led first-response team that offers emotional aid and peer-to-peer support to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) victims. The committee also aims to implement projects that help nurture safe spaces and further educate the ASHS community about SGVB issues. According to a representative from the committee, “Mayari serves as a bridge between the ASHS and the Gender Hub.” With this, the presence of Mayari and the ASHS Gender Hub shows the combined effort of not just the faculty but also of the students, who are just as determined to make their campus more inclusive. 

Students’ Direction

Likewise, it’s also important to look at the state of inclusivity in the ASHS from the perspective of the students themselves. Hearing from queer individuals of the Ateneo community serves as a way to find out whether the ASHS’ initiatives are making a difference for those who really need it. 

GA student Yanni De Guzman and STEM student Sean Sia share the same sentiments on the ASHS as a safe space, with both recognizing that although their senior high school experience has been fairly welcoming, it doesn’t take away from the lingering existence of queerphobia in the ASHS.

Sia recalls his Grade 11 experience as a positive one, stating: “I have found my stay in the ASHS to be filled with support and positivity. Personally, I haven’t encountered [many] instances wherein I would hear micro aggressions or discrimination against the queer community…I have found ASHS to be a breath of fresh air for people like me who just want to live and love openly. But then again, I could just be lucky.”

For Grade 11 transferees like De Guzman, she views ASHS as “more than accepting” — to be surrounded by a great support system has made her feel more comfortable in her own skin. Transferring from one school to another is never an easy process, but to be welcomed with open arms definitely made such a transition easier. Ateneo as a Catholic school may be perceived as a conservative institution, it’s showing small but impactful signs of open-mindedness. 

De Guzman even describes how members of the Ateneo community, despite not being part of the minority, are still active in promoting inclusivity: “Even those who aren’t part of this minority are actively involving themselves in support of protecting the rights of those who are part of the community. This shows that the student community fostered within ASHS supports each other, no matter who they are.”

Yet, as much as the ASHS is making an effort to show their openness to a more welcoming community, Sia does believe that the school or members of the community have a tendency to still present signs of that conservativeness Catholic private institutions have a reputation for, commenting: “As someone who has been in the Ateneo for almost 12 years, I would say that the institution attempts or at the very least makes an effort in assuring that values surrounding gender inclusivity are upheld. However, I believe that the school still has a long way to go as I have seen instances wherein the community reverts to its restrictive and traditional norms, to which may foster an unsafe space to queer students.”

In addition, a student from the HumSS strand has also expressed their thoughts on the state of inclusivity in the ASHS. According to the student, while safe spaces do exist in the ASHS, discrimination is still something we are dealing with. “As a queer woman, I experienced my sexual orientation being validated and while simultaneously fetishized by certain men. To me, they would treat my sexual orientation as a sort of challenge by them, as something that they could change.” Unfortunately, while some experience the lighter side of the rainbow, some are pushed back to its darker shades due to discrimination. 

Despite the combined efforts of the different inclusivity-catered committees, restrictive norms and discrimination are still very much rampant in the ASHS. Although there are efforts from various organizations in Ateneo, the road to inclusivity demands the collaborative actions of every sector of the community, from the administration down to the students, as there is still work to do in order to adequately address and process these types of issues within the campus, properly serve those who were victimized by the discriminatory acts, and hold perpetrators accountable. 

To potentially drive the ASHS further in the right direction, De Guzman suggests a better support system for students and more workshops wherein speakers part of the queer community or part of other minorities may help students come to terms with their own experience; while Sia on the other hand calls for a potential celebration of the One Big Pride designated in the ASHS, more consistent talks by the guidance, and heavier consequences and accountability for discriminatory acts. Lastly, the Mayari Committee emphasized prioritizing discipline and correction for perpetrators of SGBV in order to strengthen ASHS’ foundation on gender sensitivity and inclusivity.

Still, both De Guzman, Sia, and Mayari acknowledge the little steps the ASHS and Ateneo as a whole is taking to nurture a safer space for everyone—with the recognition that Mayari, Lakambini, the Gender Hub, and the guidance office are actively creating a more open space. Slow and steady wins the race, and one day the ASHS will get the complete inclusivity it deserves. 

A Long Way to Go

The ASHS still has a long road ahead of it if it longs to achieve full inclusivity. Whether it’s through the need to still teach ‘basic terms’ during gender sensitivity training; or through having to challenge the conservative and or sexist ideals of some members of the community, it’s clear that we have our work cut out for us. 

Moreover, while the ASHS community continues to strive for gender sensitivity and inclusivity, it is difficult to navigate whether or not the community has achieved inclusivity despite the efforts of the university to gear toward it, as while the committees strive to build more safe spaces within the campus, discrimination coexists within the community. Thus, as much as there is an effort, accountability to perpetrators must also be there. In the words of Mayari’s representative, “It should not be the victims of SGBV that should be picking up the pieces of the violence that has been done to them.” It is by disallowing tolerance that the ASHS can build more safe spaces and achieve full inclusivity.

Still, we must recognize the efforts made by those who actively serve and join the cause. The complexity of determining the actual state of inclusivity in the ASHS must not hinder us from seeing the differences that the various committees and organizations have made, which are reflected in how its own students feel safe and included in the community. 

Ultimately, the path to inclusivity is not an easy path. We must not fail to acknowledge how the different committees in the ASHS are carving that path for all of us. It is up to us—whom they serve, to make sure that we are with them on the same path they are traversing and not let their efforts go in vain. Aligning with Ateneo’s vision to be collaborative and engaged leaders of social transformation, we, the ASHS community, cannot be leaders of social transformation if we don’t strive to be the change that we want to see. 

People say there’s a pot of gold waiting at the end of a rainbow, and complete inclusivity will be the ASHS’ jackpot.