Santa Clara University is a private, co-educational Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), whose members founded the school in 1851. Santa Clara is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California and the oldest Catholic university in the American West. It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
About Santa Clara University
The Santa Clara Mission is a notable on-campus landmark.
The university is situated in Santa Clara, California (pop. 104,000), adjacent to the city of San Jose, California in Santa Clara County (pop. 1.8 million), which anchors the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Also known by the abbreviation SCU, its students and 71,000 alumni are called “Santa Clarans” and its athletics teams are called the Broncos. In many of its informational and promotional publications the school is billed as "The Jesuit University in Silicon Valley." Built around historic Mission Santa Clara, the present university is home to a population of nearly 5,000 undergraduate and 3,500 masters, J.D., and Ph.D. students. The institution employs over 450 full time faculty members, who are divided between four professional schools and the College of Arts and Sciences, all of which are located on the 104 acre (0.4 km²) mission campus. For the 2007–2008 academic year, the university's operating budget was $293 million, and the university's endowment was over $697 million.[1] For the same period, undergraduate tuition and fees was $34,950 and the average cost of room and board was $11,067.[2] Santa Clara is civilly chartered and governed by a board of trustees, which appoints the president. By internal statute, the president must be a member of the Jesuit order, although the membership of the board is primarily lay. About forty Jesuit priests and brothers are active teachers and administrators in various departments and centers. Jesuits comprise around seven percent of the permanent faculty and hold teaching positions in biology, computer engineering, counseling psychology, economics, English, history, law, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, and theater arts. They also serve in campus ministry and residence-hall ministry, and some act as faculty directors in residential learning communities. SCU maintains its Catholic and Jesuit affiliation and supports numerous initiatives intended to further its religious mission. Students are invited to attend the Sunday evening student Masses in the mission church and encouraged to participate in campus ministry programs and lectures. All bachelor’s degrees require three religious studies courses as part of the academic core. An emphasis on social justice is furthered through the Pedro Arrupe Partnership and Kolvenbach Solidarity Programs, which offer service opportunities in the community and immersion opportunities throughout the world. The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Center for Science, Technology, and Society also have programs that serve the university's Catholic, Jesuit identity. HistoryIn 1777, the Blessed Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan friar, had founded the Santa Clara church, as the eighth in the chain of Franciscan missions in Alta California, at the site of the future university. In 1851, at the height of the California Gold Rush, at the request of the Bishop of Monterey, the Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany, Italian Jesuits John Nobili and Michael Accolti established the original Santa Clara College around Mission Santa Clara de Asís. The year 1851 saw the foundation of California's first two colleges in the town of Santa Clara -- Santa Clara College and the Methodist-founded California Wesleyan College, now known as the University of the Pacific and located in Stockton, California. Because Santa Clara College began instruction before the Methodist campus, the modern university calls itself the first institution of higher learning in the state. With its 1851 foundation, Santa Clara also became the first Catholic college west of St. Louis, Missouri, where the Jesuit Saint Louis University traces its origins to 1818. For its part, California Wesleyan obtained its state charter in July 1851, and for that reason its successor, the University of the Pacific, legitimately claims to be "California's first chartered university". Santa Clara's Jesuit founders eventually accumulated the endowment required for a charter, which was granted on April 28, 1855. In 1857, Santa Clara awarded the first bachelor's degree given in California. The recipient was Thomas I. Bergin. In 1912, Santa Clara College became the University of Santa Clara with the addition of the School of Engineering and School of Law. In 1925, the Leavey School of Business was added and became one of the first business schools in the United States to receive national accreditation. In 1961, women were admitted to what had been initially an all-men's school. This step made Santa Clara University the first Catholic university in California to admit both men and women. In 1985, in part to avoid confusion with the University of Southern California, the University of Santa Clara, as it had been known since 1912, changed its name to Santa Clara University. In 2001, the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries was formed to offer master's level and other credential programs. CampusOver the last century, the Santa Clara University campus, located along the famed El Camino Real in Santa Clara, California, has expanded to more than 104 acres (42 ha). Amid its many mission style academic and residential buildings are the historic mission gardens, rose garden, and palm trees. The modern campusIn the 1950s, after the University constructed Walsh Hall and the de Saisset Museum on two of the last remaining open spaces on the old College campus, Santa Clara began purchasing and annexing land from the surrounding community. The first addition, which occurred slightly earlier, brought space for football and baseball playing fields. Thereafter, particularly in the 1960s when women were admitted to the school, more land was acquired for the Benson Memorial Center, Toso Pavilion, Orradre Library, Kennedy Mall residence halls, and other facilities. In 1989, the rerouting of The Alameda (California State Route 82), a major thoroughfare that bisected the university - and the closure of several interior roads unified the Santa Clara University campus. In place of these streets emerged sparsely landscaped pedestrian malls and plazas. The current five year campus plan calls for a better integration of these areas with the gardens of the campus core. Already, the Saint Clare Garden, designed in the medieval style, works to this end. The 1990s brought a number of important campus additions, including the Music and Dance Building, a new science wing, the Arts and Sciences Building, the Malley Fitness Center, the Sobrato Residence Hall, and the first on-campus parking structure. Santa Clara also carried out all deferred maintenance, including the renovation of Kenna Hall, the Adobe Lodge, and many other historic buildings. One unique feature of Santa Clara University's undergraduate education is the Residential Learning Community program. Eight Residential Learning Communities (RLCs), each with their own distinct themes, are charged with integrating the academic experience of the classroom and student communities in the residence halls. Contemporary changesRecently completed expansion projects include a new baseball field (Stephen Schott Stadium, 2005), a renovated basketball arena (Leavey Center, 2000), a Jesuit community residence (2006), a 194,000-square-foot (1.8 ha) state-of-the-art library (2008), and a new 85,000-square-foot (0.79 ha) building for the Leavey School of Business (2008). Santa Clara IslandOn May 24, 2007, an article published in The Santa Clara (campus newspaper) reported that SCU IT specialist Michael Ballen was heading a project to digitize the SCU campus in the virtual world Second Life. Ballen purchased Santa Clara Island for $980 on a grant from the Technology Steering Committee. Digital models of de Saisset Museum, Mission Church, and the new library are the first buildings to be featured on the island. Ballen reported that student-created art will be featured in buildings and that, in time, he hopes students and staff will have opportunities to discuss courses offline and download pre-recorded lectures through the Second Life virtual world. Ballen stated that his "main emphasis [is] teaching and learning", and that: "It's a way to get to the people who like to game and get them exposed to educational material."[3][4] Academics and rankingsThe Carnegie Corporation classifies Santa Clara as a master's level university, which denotes that the institution offers only a few, if any, PhD programs. In U.S. News & World Report's collegiate rankings of 123 (as of 2007) master's universities on the West Coast, Santa Clara consistently ranks second.[5] The same publication ranks its part-time MBA program 13th and its executive MBA program 19th in the nation.[6] The undergraduate business program of the Leavey School of Business was ranked 27th in the nation by Business Week in 2007.[7] Santa Clara also participates in the NAICU's University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN). Degrees offeredThe university offers three types of Bachelor's degrees:
The university offers graduate study in the following areas:
Centers of distinction
AccreditationsPrincipal accreditations include: The Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB - International Association for Management Education (Accredited in Business and Accounting) The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (Accredited in Civil, Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering) The American Bar Association and the State Bar of California Noted Santa Clarans
AthleticsThe school colors are red and white and the team mascot is the bronco. University athletic memberships
Club sportsThe university is also home to 18 student-run club sports, including rugby, ice hockey, lacrosse, field hockey, and volleyball. These clubs are self-funded, are competitive and regularly compete in regionals and nationals.[8] Noted programsSanta Clara University has excellent programs in soccer and volleyball that are consistently ranked among the top ten or twenty teams nationally. One year after winning the national title in 2001, the women's soccer program was mentioned several times in Bend It Like Beckham, a hit British film. The men's soccer team has reached the championship match of the College Cup three times. In 1989, they faced the University of Virginia and played to a 1-1 tie that was called due to darkness after 2 overtimes, earning both Santa Clara and Virginia a share of the National Championship. In 1991 they again faced Virginia and again tied after regulation, this time 0-0, but lost to the Cavaliers on penalty kicks. In 1999, they lost to Indiana University, 0-1. The 1992-1993 Santa Clara men's basketball team (led by future NBA MVP Steve Nash) was one of 4 #15 seeds to defeat a #2 seed in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. On February 12, 2007, the men's basketball team snapped Gonzaga's 50 game home winning streak. At the time, it was the longest ongoing home winning streak in the NCAA. Facilities
ROTCThe Santa Clara US Army ROTC Battalion and SCUs military history dates back to the American Civil War. An official organization of the basic military unit was established in 1861 due to the outbreak of the war. The unit was known as the Senior Company of Cadets. As with the rest of the nation, the Civil War brought on strong feelings for the students and their families. As a result, parents who sympathized with the Confederacy withdrew their sons from school, while other young men left Santa Clara to join the Union forces. By 26 November 1862, the Junior Company of Cadets, consisting of younger classmen, was established. However, the Junior Division was short lived. Meanwhile, on 10 September 1863, Leland Stanford, the Governor of California at the time, presented the Corps of Cadets with forty Springfield rifles, Model 1839. In return for his generosity, an armory was built in his honor. In 1936, the armory was located southwest of the athletic field with the pistol range located below the stage of the auditorium. Today, the rifles are preserved in the University Museum. The Jesuits greatly support the battalion. Fr. Paul Locatelli, S.J., the President of Santa Clara, was a cadet at the university prior to his military service and his entrance into the Jesuit Order. Also, it is known that two Jesuits from Santa Clara, Fr.'s W. D. McKinnon and J. P. McQuaide volunteered as Chaplains in the Spanish-American War. Both men were part of the American Expeditionary Force that was with Theodore Roosevelt when he made his attack at San Juan Hill on 1 July 1898. [1] References
Giacomini, George F., Jr., and McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. Serving the Intellect, Touching the Heart: A Portrait of Santa Clara University, 1851-2000. Santa Clara: Santa Clara University, 2000. McKevitt, Gerald. The University of Santa Clara : A History, 1851-1977. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1979. Corporate Authorship. University of Santa Clara: A History, From the Founding of Santa Clara Mission in 1777 to the beginning of the University in 1912. Santa Clara: University Press, 1912. Corporate Authorship. Souvenir of Santa Clara College. Santa Clara: University Press, 1901. Corporate Authorship. Santa Clara College Prospectus. Santa Clara, 1906. External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to:
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