Dominus Illuminatio Mea
School pride, Oxford has it. Perhaps school pride does not affect every school the way it does just a little for Oxford, the second oldest university in the world. The school can be a way in which students identify themselves. School colors are worn with pride; stories of founding and history are shared with reverence. I am looking forward to being there, walking on the grounds of Oxford and feeling the vast history and story of the ancient buildings and remembering some of those whose footsteps we may be walking on.
The grade school that I attended encouraged school pride through the retelling of stories and even, the singing of hymns that were written of the school, our history and motto. We had rivalries with other schools in the city that our deeply entrenched pride and lauded history only fuelled. There can be a puff of superiority with a peppering of arrogance, perhaps a symptom of the pride, that can become a divisive negative attribute of the school. Praise the history, stand up for your school and sing about it as generations have before, to the point of creating dividing lines between one and another. What may determine one’s pride in their school beyond the history and celebrity and buildings and social statement? What is the most attractive ‘good’ of the school?
The celebrities, those who attended Oxford are perhaps like no other University can boast. There’s an expectation and pressure following those as have walked the halls and college streets of Oxford, who have offered extraordinary new ideas and profound insight for this human experience. Steve Nash (2-time NBA MVP) and Gareth Rees (Canada’s foremost Rugby personality) are the two celebrities that give the grade school I attended extra stature.
Identity and culture of a place and people.
The attitude and pressure to be excellent, for the place and for the people. Sullivan’s, ‘Secret History of Oxford’, though interesting and surprising in ways, only opened what I expected to see in the depiction of a university of current global renown and historic depth. (Oxford’s being founded at the time of the Fall of Troy aside, the second oldest University in the world). A different view of the school, stories of reaching out to the neighbourhoods around, the offering of opportunities for people to study there who are not quite the ‘cream of the crop’, acceptance of those who are struggling to keep up and support for those who have certain aspirations for profession though can’t afford the tuition. I may be missing something, a healthier vision for between the lines or perhaps I’m calling for one more chapter or for another book altogether?
At the school I attended, my shirt was untucked most of the time and my tie undone. This I knew all the time and, it was continually clarified with me! I did not follow the status quo, my conformation to the ideal, the preferred was lacking at least by surface standards. So, there was struggle. Then, it was also known the heart that was in me for my school. Not the best nor most athletic perhaps, I battled for my school to brokenness on the rugby field. ‘Vivat!’ was our team cheer before each game, ‘To live!’ We lived and we died for our school out there on the field each week.
To see the heart, the inspiration fuelling such pride engrained with the identity and culture of the place and the people of Oxford is what I hope to catch just a glimpse of while visiting. Genuine care for one another, for the school of course, perhaps of the school’s care and presence for their surrounding communities. In recent times I have heard of the deepening inspiration beyond the easy pride of my school toward one another and expressing the heart of the school toward needs within the surrounding community. ‘Nihil Magnum Nisi Bonum’ (There is Nothing More Important that What is Good) has been the motto of the school from its founding. And, Oxford University’s motto, ‘Dominus Illuminatio Mea’ (The Lord is my Light) a courageous motto of integrity and discernment to live into well.
About the Author
Chris Pollock
Dad of Molly Polly Pastor at the Mustard Seed Street Church Trail Runner2 responses to “Dominus Illuminatio Mea”
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Interesting question on what determines ones school pride beyond the history and celebrities that attended the school. Obviously not every school is going to produce a Tolkien, Lewis or a famous athlete. Not every school has a level of prestige or clout. For me school pride came from the relationships that were formed with teachers that impacted my life. It came from memories of friends and challenges that were successfully faced.
Chris.
Thanks for highlighting the pride of history that seems to fuel contemporary tribalism. Whether it be for school, family, preferred team, origin, melanin level, or nation-state, the stories and songs of our past seem to exist to reinforce our understanding our ourselves and our affinity group as dominant/superior. I, too, recall the pride that I had in wearing my school’s colors and hearing our fight song while waiting on the ice for the hockey match to begin. Equally entrenched in my memory was my disdain for the songs and colors of our rivals when our schedule took us on the road. Our song was the truth; theirs was a laughable lullaby…or so we believed. Your post made me wonder how what was taught us through narrative, song, mascot, and color in our high school/undergrad days has been reinforced in the grown-up world. It forced me to consider who I continue to choose as my tribe, what our song is, and what colors we wear with pride. Equally, I’m forced to wonder about, as my tribe reinforces our sense of superiority, how we continue to see the “rivals” as less than.