El Ateneista chronicles school experiences
at Colegio Ateneo Lic. Juan Antonio de la Fuente

El Ateneista, a Spanish language book authored by Laredoean Dr. Edmundo J. Ruiz, chronicles the lives of students of Saltillo's Colegio Ateneo Lic. Juan Antonio de la Fuente, which was founded in November l867. The college was initially established in an abandoned monastery in front of the Plaza San Francisco.
Dr. Ruiz narrates the lives of four students at the Colegio during their adolescence. For many, since most of the students were from different Mexican states, the Colegio was a home away from home, in some cases because secondary and preparatory education were frequently not available in their hometowns.
The separation from their families and friends was accompanied by separation anxiety as well as anxiety in adjusting to new friends, teachers, and the new town.
During the five years it took to earn their bachelor's degrees, the four friends became very close as they shared adventures. Ruiz's tome includes some stories based on real events, and some that were dreams and memories about their teachers, classes, exams, girls, dances, sports, and the trying years of puberty.
Ruiz also tells the story of the school's relocation when it outgrew the campus at the old monastery. Increased enrollment fomented the need to build a new school. The governor, the students, and the faculty worked in concerted efforts to find the funds to build the new Ateneo, which was inaugurated on September 15, l933. Though the old building was abandoned, Ruiz has never forgotten its significance in so many lives.
For more information on El Ateneista, contact Dr. Ruiz at (956) 722-2115.