Ateneo de Zamboanga University

The Ateneo de Zamboanga University (Pamantasang Ateneo de Zamboanga), also referred to by its acronym AdZU, is a private, Catholic, co-educational, basic and higher education institution in Zamboanga City, Philippines. Founded in 1912 by Jesuits as Escuela Catolica, an all-boys parochial school of the Immaculate Conception parish, it is the second oldest Jesuit-administered institution in the Philippines.

Escuela Catolica (1912–1916)
In 1912, a parochial elementary school of the Immaculate Conception parish was opened by the Spanish Jesuits and named the Escuela Catolica. Fr. Manuel M. Sauras, was the director of the school and Fr. Miguel Saderra Mata,, the parish priest who was formerly the rector of Ateneo Municipal, subsidized the school. Classes were being held in a wooden building that also housed the garage of the Mindanao Transit. It was located near the cathedral along Plaza de Don Juan de Salcedo (now Plaza Pershing), but was later demolished and replaced with the Mindanao Theater. Classes then moved to the ground floor of the church rectory.

Pre-war Ateneo (1916–1941)
In 1916, Bishop Michael J. O'Doherty, the then bishop of Zamboanga, had requested that the Jesuits open a school similar to the Ateneo de Manila to address the need to maintain quality education in parochial schools. One-fourth of the diocesan revenue, along with financial support from various sources, was offered for the new school. With the approval of the Jesuit mission superior, Fr. Francisco X. Tena,, the Escuela Catolica was renamed to the "Ateneo Elementary School" on October 28, 1916 with seven grade levels. Additional classrooms were built on the second floor of the rectory above the sacristry between the church proper and the priests' quarters.

In the 1920s, the Philippine mission of the Jesuits had been transferred from the Province of Aragon to the Province of Maryland-New York, and American Jesuits began to replace the Spanish Jesuits. Fr. Thomas J. Murray,, an Irish American Jesuit, was assigned parish priest in September 1926. A petition to open the High School had been initiated by the locals in the first quarter of 1928. When Fr. Thomas returned to Zamboanga after being assigned elsewhere, he became the first American director of the school, which was granted by George C. Butte, the Secretary of Public Instruction, and approved by W.G.M. Buckish, the Commissioner of Private Instruction. His arrival coincided with the opening of the high school in June 1928, and the school was renamed to "Ateneo de Zamboanga" to reflect this addition. High school classes were held at the third floor of the Mindanao Theater building, previously purchased by the Knights of Columbus (K of C). In 1930, management of the school was handed over from the Spanish Jesuits to the American Jesuits. During Fr. Thomas' tenure, Ateneo eventually occupied the entire K of C building. The high school was officially recognized by the city government in 1932 and the first graduates were produced in the same year, with Roseller T. Lim as the valedictorian.

In 1940, Fr. Eusebio G. Salvador, purchased 18 adjoining lots totaling 2.8 hectares on a new site outside the poblacion named the Jardin de Chino y Camino Nuevo, located along Bailen Street (now La Purisima Street).

Ateneo closed down during the outbreak of World War II in 1941. The building was taken over by the Japanese and was converted into a public elementary school. On March 8–9, 1945, American troops bombed and shelled buildings prior to the liberation of the city from Japanese occupation, leaving two-thirds of the city destroyed, including the K of C Building and the Immaculate Conception cathedral.

Post-war Ateneo (1946–present)
High school and intermediate classes were reopened in July 1946 and were held in a nipa-sawali building on the new site purchased by Fr. Eusebio before the war. The new campus was shared with students from Pilar College for a year before they moved to their new campus at Cawa-Cawa Boulevard. In September 1947, an extra 1.5 hectares was purchased to accommodate for more buildings.

A three-story building was then constructed on the site to replace the old nipa-sawali building, and the first classes in the building were held on March 28, 1949. In the same year, Ateneo was officially recognized as a Jesuit school, separate from the parish, and Fr. Alfredo Paguia, became its first rector on June 16, 1949. The school later adopted the Blue Eagle as its mascot, ahead of Ateneo de Manila.

The Brebeuf Gymnasium, named in honor of St. Jean de Brébeuf,, was constructed in 1950. The Zamboanga Amateur Athletic Federation (ZAAF) Basketball League regularly held their games here.

The college was opened in 1952 and has since been co-educational. It initially offered two-year courses for Associate in Arts and Pre-Law and four-year courses for Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science in Education, and Bachelor of Science in Commerce degrees. The high school started offering night classes in 1954 for students working in government offices. The college started offering courses for Pre-Nursing and Pre-Engineering in 1954 and 1955 respectively. In 1956, the college and high school became separate departments.

More buildings were added to the new site to accommodate the increasing number of enrollments. The Chapel of the Sacred Heart was constructed in 1961, the Gonzaga Hall in 1964, the Canisius Hall in 1967 and the Berchmans and Kostka Hall for the Grade School in 1972. The graduate school soon opened in 1976 and offered a Master in Business Administration program; the first in Region IX.

Prior to the 1970s, the head of the local Jesuit community was also the rector of Ateneo, and they were appointed by the Jesuit Provincial Superior. Efforts were made by the Jesuits to incorporate Ateneo and establish a Board of Trustees, and on February 25, 1979, Fr. Ernesto Carretero, was the first president elected by the newly established Board of Trustees.

It was by this time that local and international sponsors started funding new buildings. The Philippine Coconut Producers Federation, Inc. (COCOFED) sponsored a new Bellarmine-Campion building for the high school, and construction was completed in 1979. Soon, Ateneo started accepting girls for the basic education units, starting with the kindergarten in 1984. The grade school and high school soon following after. In 1987, the Learning Resource Center was constructed through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Discussions were held in 1990 between health professionals and community leaders regarding the need for a medical school in Western Mindanao due to the region having the highest infant mortality rate in the Philippines at the time, among other factors. To address these concerns, Fr. William H. Kreutz,, the university president during this time, established the Zamboanga Medical School Foundation, Inc. (ZMSF) as a non-stock, non-profit organization.

University status
On August 20, 2001, Ateneo de Zamboanga was granted university status by the Commission on Higher Education and is the only higher education institution in Western Mindanao to receive a Fully Autonomous status. Soon, ZMSF merged with Ateneo in 2004 and became the AdZU School of Medicine.

A new campus named the Fr. William H. Kreutz, in honor of the university president at the time started construction in Barangay Tumaga on July 30, 2005, for the basic education units. A year after, in 2006, construction completed, and high school classes were transferred to the new high school building.

Around 2009, the Board of Trustees explored the feasibility in opening a law school in Ateneo. Due to a moratorium in place preventing new law schools from being opened in the Philippines, It was decided that the new law school was to be a branch of the Xavier University College of Law. A certificate of authority was issued on May 18, 2011, and the Xavier University College of Law – Zamboanga opened in June 2011. Legal Education Board members later granted Ateneo a permit to open a law school through an order dated January 13, 2014.

The grade school transferred to the Kreutz campus after the inauguration of the Grade School Complex in 2015.

On July 7, 2016, the historic 67-year-old Brebeuf Gymnasium was burned to the ground; the Sauras, Kostka, and Gonzaga Halls were also damaged. The Zamboanga City government estimated that the cost of the damages amounted to ₱5 million. As part of rebuilding efforts, the Faustino W. Saavedra Building (FWS Building) and the second Multi-Purpose Covered Court were built on the grounds of the former Brebeuf Gym and were inaugurated on December 8, 2018.

In 2019, Lantaka Hotel, the oldest hotel in Zamboanga, was donated to Ateneo though a donation made by the Walstrom Family and was renamed to the AdZU Lantaka Campus. On March 22, 2020, amid COVID-19 lockdowns, it was converted by the city government into a COVID-19 isolation and treatment facility and was temporarily renamed to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPi–Lantaka) COVID-19 Facility. In 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic saw less cases during the year, it was returned to Ateneo from the city government and reopened on October 10, 2022, with future renovations planned for the campus.

On June 11, 2024, Ateneo de Manila University School of Law partnered with the AdZU College of Law (now Rosendo U. Castillo, Jr. College of Law) to offer a Masters of Law program in AdZU.

Admissions
AdZU operates with a selective admissions policy. All of the university's courses require, among other things, passing an entrance exam (which, in the case of the Grade School, is instead called an 'assessment test'); past education records are also required for examination. The School of Medicine requires results in the National Medical Admission Test while the College of Law requires results in the PhilSAT; all other units administer through the school's own College Entrance Test initiated by the Admissions and Aid.

Student council
The Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng Ateneo de Zamboanga University (SMADZU) was the college unit's student government before 2009. Currently in its place is El Consejo Atenista, which was created with the objective of being a more representative student government.

The El Consejo Atenista, as AdZU's official student government, engages with other Jesuit universities' student councils in the annual Buklod Atenista National Leaders' Summit. They are also active in community initiatives, such as organizing relief operations during the 2013 Zamboanga City Siege and protesting against the implementation of mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps in the Philippines.

Campuses
AdZU operates three campuses.
 * Fr. Eusebio G. Salvador, S.J. (Main) Campus. The main campus (4.3 hectares) on La Purisima Street, named for Fr. Eusebio Salvador, S.J., houses the undergraduate and graduate schools and the Senior High School unit.
 * Fr. William H. Kreutz, S.J. Campus. The second campus (8.3 hectares) in Barangay Tumaga, which is outside Zamboanga City proper, named for Fr. William Kreutz, S.J., is home to the Junior High School and Grade School units.
 * Lantaka Campus. The Lantaka Campus is situated along the coastline of Zamboanga City and was previously a resort hotel. This campus will be used as a place for students' and staff's retreats, recollections, meetings, seminars and conferences.

Notable alumni

 * Roseller T. Lim, first and only Zamboangueño elected to the Philippine Senate
 * Cesar Climaco, former mayor of Zamboanga City
 * Philip Gamboa, actor
 * Bobby Nalzaro, broadcast journalist, radio commentator and columnist
 * Beng Climaco, former mayor of Zamboanga City