Howdy y'all,

For the last couple of months I've been thinking about Mac's motto, which, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is "ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ" - it is Ancient Greek for "All things cohere in Christ". Mac has had this motto for quite some time, and from what I have read, it is what remains of Mac's Baptist past (along with Divinity College, of course). I've been going back and forth between whether this motto should be kept because it is a part of Mac's institutional history or if it should be replaced with a new motto because Mac as it is known today does not resemble to a great extent the university it was at its founding. So, naturally, I thought I'd ask what everyone else - or, at least those on MacInsiders - think about this topic.

Also, I figured that if people were in favour of changing Mac's motto, we should consider alternatives for a replacement. This is what I've come up with:

"FACIAMVS MAIORA" (Fah-key-yah-mus May-yor-ah) , which means "Let us do greater deeds" (or "things", literally.)

"FACIAMVS MELIORA" (Fah-key-yah-mus Mel-ee-yor-ah) , which means "Let us do better deeds"

"PRO VERITATEQVE SCIENTIA" (Pro Where-i-tah-teh-kway Ski-en-tee-yah), which means "For Truth and Knowledge" (Not to be confused with the outstanding English battle cry "For King and Country!", which is beyond the realm of awesome.)

I have others I will try to post later, as right now I can't find the book I wrote them in......damned memory!

Of course, please post, in addition to your opinion on this matter, all of your suggestions, including non-Classical ones. (On extremely rare occasions, Latin can sometimes muddle the meaning )

Hm...I very much dislike our current motto. I reeeeeeally don't like religion, and aside from that, I don't think the motto really reflects anything about McMaster today.

Of the three you suggested, I like FACIAMVS MAIORA and PRO VERITATEQVE SCIENTIA, but I think I like PRO VERITATEQVE SCIENTIA more

I defintely agree! Mac's motto could use a bit of a change to reflect its inter-religious students a little more.
I like both, but if I have to choose - PRO VERITATEQVE SCIENTIA

Hmm, this is a very interesting thread...i like it. And I also agree with PRO VERITATEQVE SCIENTIA . I definitely like that one.

Είμαστε καλύτερα από τη Δυτική - We are better than Western
Το πανεπιστήμιο με Ο Beard. - The University with a Beard
Αυτή η Πρόεδρός σας έχει Ο Beard? - Does Your President Have A Beard?
μηχανικών είναι τρελή - Engineers are crazy
Bistro ή Ψομμονσ - Bistro or Commons?
Έχουμε πολλά Brown άτομα. - We have many brown people
Στις McMaster κάνουμε διατρέχουν ταχύτερη - At McMaster we do run faster
μπορούν να εκτελούν πτήσεις - Our Mascot Can Fly
Ναι σας σημάτων είναι αρκετά υψηλή ώστε να μπει σε ζωής SCI jeez. - Yes your marks are high enough to get into life sci Jeez.
dammit, άλλο PBL. - Dammit, another PBL
Ναι ότι το δικαίωμα, έχουμε ένα πυρηνικό αντιδραστήρα. - Yea, that's right, we do have a Nuclear Reactor.
Δεν χάνεται στη Hamilton - Don't get lost in Hamilton.
Nick Bontis είναι ο Θεός - Nick Bontis is God.
DeGroote είναι ο Θεός - DeGroote is God.
Παρακολουθούμε για Westdale κατά. - Watch out for the Westdale Flasher.

SIT VIS VOBISCUM - May the Force be With You

If we're so worried about going away from tradition (the religious background), why should it even be in greek?

my 0.02

μου τη ζωή για Aiur - AWESOMENESS

but my vote goes for:

Victoria Concordia Crescit - Victory Through Haromony
the above would open the door to McMaster gaining an acadamy partnership with ARSENAL!!!
and of course students would get discount match tickets, season tickets, and plane tickets to ARSENAL games!!!

*i know that its Latin, but not many other people will

As much as I hate religion.... tradition trumps religion.

(I should include that I also hate tradition)

McMaster

Αυτές οι σπουδαστές από electives επειδή 1887 - Screwing students out of electives since 1887.

I always liked "Wir müssen wissen. Wir werden wissen" ("We must know, we will know") from David Hilbert's speech on what he thought the future of mathematics was...

There'd probably be lots of copyright issues with that, though.

Mowicz, I know I can count on your support.

Originally Posted by Mahratta

I always liked "Wir müssen wissen. Wir werden wissen" ("We must know, we will know") from David Hilbert's speech on what he thought the future of mathematics was...

Considering Mac's Origins Institute and its supposed reputation as a research-intensive university, I think that would actually be a really good motto......and German just sounds amazing.

Even as a Christian I am not in favor of a direct naming of a figure from any particular religion.

However, I feel that a compromise motto chosen from the bible, but religiously neutral might be a good idea.

Whatever is greek for "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." I think would be appropriate.

Originally Posted by Shmowen

Considering Mac's Origins Institute and its supposed reputation as a research-intensive university, I think that would actually be a really good motto......and German just sounds amazing.

Ironically enough, Goedel submitted his work on incompleteness the day before, haha. Obviously, it wasn't big enough for Hilbert to hear about it immediately - but it kind of destroyed his grand scheme

Originally Posted by arathbon

Even as a Christian I am not in favor of a direct naming of a figure from any particular religion.

However, I feel that a compromise motto chosen from the bible, but religiously neutral might be a good idea.

Whatever is greek for "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." I think would be appropriate.

as much as i love Jesus the motto isnt the greatest for mac which consists of 20 000 ppl from severaldifferent religions. this motto is fantastical