"I was recently asked: 'Why will I give Ateneo money for scholarship when it can support more students in other schools?'

I cannot answer that easily. I cannot say that 1 Atenean is equal to 5 students from other schools. Ang yabang naman nun.All I can say is we have high hopes for you...

 

As Fr Bernas used to say, 'Elite need not be a bad 5 letter word. It can mean rich, exclusive, privileged. But it can also mean select, chosen, chosen few, outlier, leader, Ateneans making a difference in the lives of people.

 

'Let us multiply who we are, what has been given us. We have been given much. Let us lead the change.

 

The boy and girl keep asking.
The man and woman offer.

 

We live in the oblation of others.
Without the offering of others, we die."

 

- Former Ateneo de Manila President Father Jett Villarin, SJ

ASSES (Ateneans Supporting Scholars for an Empowered Society) is a group formed in 2011 by Ateneans who pooled money together to assist scholars of the Ateneo de Manila University in their college education.

It started with 37 members on its first year and has continually grown with members inviting their own officemates, batchmates, and friends to join the scholarship project.

We are on our 12th year, and to date, we have donated more or less PhP 5 million to support 52 college scholars at the Ateneo.

Who do we support?

We work hand in hand with the Ateneo de Manila's Office of Admission and Aid (OAA) who will give recommendations from the pool of students who applied for scholarships.

How does it work?

Donations of PhP 5000 (or any amount) are collected via The Spark Project platform which supports PayPal, Credit and Debit Card via PayMongo, and GCash.

Remittance may also be done manually via bank deposit and PayPal.

Pledges are gathered until the end of NOVEMBER 2022. By the first week of December, a commitment letter is sent to the OAA and by December 25, the money pooled will be remitted.

The target this year is to remit PhP 500,000 to the OAA in support of 3-4 scholars.

How about transparency and accountability?

At the end of the donation period, I will release a Financial Report containing the inflows and outflows. Outflows usually consist of website fees, PayPal fees, and other administrative fees.

In addition, ASSES maintains a closed and private FB group where representatives of the OAA are members, for them to see the group's activities and updates.

 SO, G?

Video: ateneodemanila
Photo: ateneodemanila