<p>Do mottos really reflect a part of the truth of the schools or they have already lost the meaning to some degrees?</p>
<p>I don’t even know my school’s motto. I will look it up right now. </p>
<p>It is about hard work. Do students at my school work hard? No more than at any other schools of its calibre. It is a motto that could be applied to any school in the country.</p>
<p>So my answer would be that mottos have lost their significance to some degree at most schools. I’m not sure whether they ever really mattered.</p>
<p>I always kind of liked the motto at my alma mater: Lux Esto. I think it was and still is quite fitting. Another favorite often quoted at that school and on a plaque in what was a freshman dorm is “the end of learning is gracious living” and I always thought that was fitting as well. So to the OP, no, In my opinion, mottos don’t necessarily lose meaning.</p>
<p>I like my school’s motto, too: *Crescat scientia, vita excolatur<a href=“%5Bi%5DLet%20knowledge%20grow%20from%20more%20to%20more,%20and%20so%20be%20human%20life%20enriched%5B/i%5D”>/i</a>. I think it captures the essence of a university’s mission well (and is an interesting variation on the one momofthreeboys just shared.)</p>
<p>I remember a plaque that referred to “sifting and winnowing”- a reference to evaluating ideas. They still teach critical thinking, so yes that still holds true. Also hopefully true on most campuses, even though that sometimes means the student body challenges the establishment.</p>
<p>Addenda- looked it up -NUMEN LUMEN appears on the school seal. Haven’t the foggiest idea about that, suppose it refers to enlightenment… saw some reference link but who knows why they chose it in the mid 1800’s since the reference mentioned the Numen something about God which certainly wouldn’t be allowed at this liberal public flagship school if people knew/cared. UW-Madison, btw.</p>
<p>My alma mater doesn’t have an official motto, but it has an unofficial “slogan”: “Enter to learn; go forth to serve.”</p>
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That same motto is on a Hollywood(-ish) high school which is a popular filming site for TV shows.</p>
<p>Of course, all mottos sound good–really, would a school advertise themselves as “land of mediocrity”? ;)</p>
<p>Dartmouth’s motto, chosen by the founder, is “Vox Clamantis in Deserto” - which translates as " A voice crying in the wilderness." Well, the school certainly is located out in the wilderness, so that part is still true.</p>
<p>lol, coureur. When I first took DS there for a HS track meet, I was surprised at how remote the school is. That’s saying a lot, since we’re from Maine!</p>
<p>Wellesley’s motto is taken seriously by the school and the students: non
ministrari sed ministrare. Not to be served, but to serve.</p>
<p>I envy you whose alma maters have impressive, Latin mottos. I can’t even find mine, but I think I heard it once, and it was something lame like “Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” or some crap that made it sound like a trade school.</p>
<p>@coureur and maine … No no no, it means “We yell for dessert.” ;)</p>
<p>never fails to get a rise out of D. (small pleasures are the best)</p>
<p>esobay, you’re a mean parent.</p>
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<p>If we could get someone on CC who knows Latin to translate it into Latin, I’ll be it would sound fabulous. </p>
<p>Of course, not all mottos are written in Latin or English. My recollection is that Stanford’s is in German.</p>
<p>Notre Dame’s official motto is Vita, Dulcedo, Spes (Life, Sweetness, Hope), but I would bet that most alums think it it the words inscribed over the side door of the Church: “God, Country, Notre Dame” . The joke was always, “God, Country, Notre Dame – not necessarily in that order.”</p>
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<p>Yeah… mine? “Beyond expectations.”</p>
<p>Some schools make a bigger deal out of their mottos than others. Smith’s official motto is “In Virtue, Knowledge” (but it’s written in Ancient Greek, not Latin, so writing it out properly requires special characters). I don’t think it’s necessarily indicative of the real Smith character. </p>
<p>However, what’s much more descriptive and much more kept to heart at Smith are the words from the will of our founder, Sophia Smith, who established the school in her will. </p>
<p>She wrote: " I hereby make the following provisions for the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our Colleges to young men.</p>
<p>It is my opinion that by the higher and more thorough Christian education of women, what are called their “wrongs” will be redressed, their wages adjusted, their weight of influence in reforming the evils of society will be greatly increased, as teachers, as writers, as mothers, as members of society, their power for good will be incalculably enlarged…I would have the education suited to the mental and physical wants of woman. It is not my design to render my sex any the less feminine, but to develop as fully as may be the powers of womanhood, and furnish women with the means of usefulness, happiness and honor, now withheld from them…It is my wish that the Institution be so conducted, that during all coming time it shall do the most good to the greatest number. I would have it a perennial blessing to the country and the world."</p>
<p>“A perennial blessing to the country and the world” is engraved on the steps of the library, so you have to look at it every single day. And I am “proud” to say that I think we still carry forward the spirit of the original mission today, though in ways that dear Sophia probably would not have imagined.</p>
<p>Ours is “Lux et Lex” which means “Light and Law.” Pretty broad… nothing to do with anything really, although there are a lot of people that go on to law school from here.</p>
<p>This is a fun thread! I think in many cases a schools motto is spot on!</p>
<p>Grinnell’s is “veritas et humanitas”…Truth and Humanity</p>
<p>This school exemplifies this motto.</p>
<p>I’m a UC Davis grad, and the motto of University of California is “Fiat Lux” = Let There Be Light. California is pretty well lit most of the time - very sunny, so in the literal sense the motto still works and probably always will. In the figurative sense, the UCs are still research powerhouses. In that sense they are creating enlightenment, so the motto applies.</p>