Santa Clara University
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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 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 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.Built around historic Mission Santa Clara, the present university is home to a population of nearly 5,000 undergraduate and 3,500 masters, JD, and PhD 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 2005-2006 academic year, the university's operating budget was $255 million, and the university's endowment was nearly $530 million. For the same period, undergraduate tuition was $28,899 and the cost of room and board was $10,032.
The Carnegie Corporation classifies Santa Clara as a master's level university, which denotes that the institution offers few, if any, PhD programs. During 2004-2005, the university conferred five PhD degrees in engineering. In U.S. News & World Report's collegiate rankings, among master's universities on the West Coast, Santa Clara consistently ranks second.
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.
Origins
At the request of the Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany, then Bishop of Monterey, Italian Jesuits John Nobili and Michael Accolti established the original Santa Clara College around Mission Santa Clara de Asís in 1851, at the height of the California Gold Rush. Blessed Junipero Serra, a Catalan Franciscan friar, had founded the Santa Clara church and convent in 1777 as the eighth in the chain of Franciscan missions in Alta California.
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.
Santa Clara College became a university in 1912 with the addition of the School of Engineering and School of Law. The Leavey School of Business was added in 1925 and became one of the first business schools in the United States to receive national accreditation. More recently, the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries was formed in 2001 and offers master level and credential programs.
Initially an all-men's school, women were admitted in 1961. This step made Santa Clara University the first Catholic university in California to admit both men and women. The school colors are red and white and the team mascot is the bronco.
Campus
Over 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 (0.4 km²). Amid its many mission style academic and residential buildings are the historic mission gardens, rose garden, and palm trees.
The Modern Campus
In the 1950's, 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 1960's 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 - 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 1990's 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.
Contemporary Changes
Recent and current expansion projects include a new baseball field (Stephen Schott Stadium), an expanded apartment style dormitory complex (Casa Italiana), a renovated basketball arena (Leavey Center), a new Jesuit residence, and a new student commons at Kennedy Mall. Planned capital projects include a new Library for the 21st Century, a new building for the Leavey School of Business, an expansion of Buck Shaw Stadium to include more grandstands and a full size practice field, and a new multi-use administration building on Palm Drive. Additionally, Nobili Hall, the former Jesuit residence, will be used starting in the fall of 2006 as on-campus housing for Juniors and Seniors.
Academics
Degrees offered
The university offers three types of Bachelor's degrees:- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Science (includes engineering degrees)
- Bachelor of Science in Commerce
- Law (J.D., L.L.M)
- Business (MBA, MSIS)
- Engineering (M.S., Ph.D.)
- Counseling Psychology (M.A.)
- Education (M.A.)
- Pastoral Ministries (M.A.)
Centers of Distinction
- The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University provides a nationally preeminent academic forum for research and dialogue concerning all areas of applied ethics. The center engages faculty, students, and members of the community as well as its own staff and fellows in ethical discussions in a number of focus areas, including business, health care and biotechnology, character education, government, global leadership, technology, and emerging issues in ethics.
- The Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University "examines the interrelationship of human systems with rapid scientific and technological change" on a global scale. The center focuses on developing and publicizing technology with a potential to benefit humanity and solve current world-wide challenges, particularly in the Global South. Santa Clara University, through this center, gives out the [Tech Museum Awards], which honor innovators who use technology to help humanity.
- The Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education at Santa Clara University is the result of a 2005 merger between the Bannan Center for Jesuit Education and the Pedro Arrupe Center for Community-based Learning. In addition to maintaining the functions of these two programs, the Center has added Kolvenbach Solidarity Programs, which focus on student immersion trips to developing countries.
Accreditations
Principal 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
List of alumni, faculty, and officials, of Santa Clara University
Athletics
University athletic memberships
- NCAA Division I
- West Coast Conference
- [Pacific Coast Softball Conference]
- Western Water Polo Association
- The teams are called The Broncos
Facilities
- Leavey Center: Santa Clara's 6,000 seat arena provides space for basketball and volleyball teams. The Leavey Center is also used as a concert venue and a hall for large lectures and speeches. Adjacent to the arena, and also a part of the center, is the university's pool.
- Buck Shaw Stadium: A 6,800 seat stadium and the longtime home of Bronco football and baseball, "the Shaw" is now entirely dedicated to SCU's nationally ranked soccer programs.
- Steven Schott Stadium: Built in 2005 for $8.6 million, Schott stadium is home to SCU baseball.
- Degheri Tennis Center: The tennis center opened in 1999 at a cost of $2.5 million and includes nine courts and seats for 750 spectators.
- Bellomy Field: Bellomy is used for intramural sports and for casual student use.
- Malley Fitness Center: Malley is open to the university community for recreational sports, indoor intramurals, weightlifting, and fitness classes.
- Marsalli Park: Located nearby the university campus, Marsalli provides a softball diamond used by the SCU softball team.
Noted programs
Santa 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 1992-1993 Santa Clara men's basketball team (led by future NBA star Steve Nash) was one of 4 #15 seeds to defeat a #2 seed in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.
The Santa Clara US Army ROTC Battalion has history that 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. Locatelli, S.J. (President of Santa Clara) was a cadet at the university prior to his military service and his entrance into the priesthood. 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. All information is from the SCU ROTC Battalion website at
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.
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