Why write so much about St. Ignatius College Preparatory? Certainly other high schools succeed just as well as SI. In doing my research, I’ve seen, time and time again, the quality that distinguishes and defines SI: sharpness. SI sharpens its students. It readies them for the tasks and trials and tribulations of life. Moreover, SI has a certain energy different from other schools. Just walk the halls on any given day and you can feel the static in the air buzzing from classroom to playing field to laboratory to stage. The source of that energy, the dynamo that drives the school, the whetstone that sharpens and shapes, is simply this: AMDG — For the Greater Glory of God. SI, in turning girls and boys into women and men, does this and more. It turns them into people with purpose, with a drive to be a part of the divine plan, to resolve the paradox of doing great things while not thinking about greatness for themselves. AMDG, the gift of SI and the Jesuits, helps us be ourselves in the most profound way we can be. It’s why so many grads come back to teach. It’s why so many want their sons and daughters to come to SI. It’s why, years after graduation, alumni come to reunions and sports days and auctions and fashion shows and international food faires. They come because the goodness of the school stays with them. And they seek the greater good, the magis, that is the title of this book and the theme of their lives. I’ve always known there’s something special about this place. Now I’ve had the luxury to stare at it long enough to put a name to it. Sharpness. Magis. AMDG. Go Cats!
— Paul Totah ’75