Born in San Francisco in 1911, Walter Schmidt, S.J. was the only child of Swiss immigrant parents. After graduating from St. Ignatius High School, he worked at the Bank of Italy and attended the University of San Francisco at night. Schmidt joined the Society of Jesus in 1929 and was ordained in 1941. He earned his A.B. and M.A. in psychology from Gonzaga University and spent two years at St. Ignatius High School, where he taught Latin and algebra, organized the band and glee club and coached baseball and swimming.

Upon receiving his S.T.L. from Santa Clara University in 1942, Father Schmidt joined the faculty and taught theology. He assumed a succession of key administrative posts at Santa Clara University including Dean of Men, Director of Community Relations, Vice President for University Relations, Assistant to the President and Senior Vice President. As a member of the university’s Board of Trustees for 15 years, he was active in the founding and development of the Board of Regents and the Board of Fellows. He was the co-founder and coordinator of the Golden Circle Theatre Party, an annual fundraising event which brought numerous Hollywood actors to Santa Clara.

Father Schmidt is best known for his work with the Santa Clara Valley Youth Village, or the Wutzit Club as it was originally named. Started by a handful of youth in 1944, the Wutzit Club was a response to what city officials deemed a rise in juvenile delinquency during wartime. Father Schmidt spoke often on this topic, an epidemic he believed was due to shifting family dynamics during the war that led women to the workplace and left many homes without a patriarch as head of household.

When he took charge of the Wutzit Club in 1944, Father Schmidt established an assortment of youth recreational programs. Youth Village programming included a glee club, weekly radio broadcasts, a dramatic society, a sports program and a club newspaper. The club offered classes in art, dance, photography, sculpture, woodwork and radio repair. It also sponsored three dances a week and a variety of civic projects. By 1947, the club had 1,000 members. By 1956, when the new Santa Clara Valley Youth Village facilities opened, membership had climbed to 4,000. As a result, Father Schmidt won acclaim for sharply reducing juvenile delinquency in Santa Clara. The Youth Village was well known for producing world class athletes. From track and field to boxing, swimming to gymnastics, the programs set many world and U.S. records. Between 1956 and 1968, 16 Youth Village athletes made U.S. Olympic teams, garnering five medals. Father Schmidt himself served as chaplain for the U.S. team twice.

In the late 1960s, the Youth Village redirected its activities. It dropped some programs, such as track and field, and added others. It built a Little League baseball field and a gymnasium for the Santa Clara Valley Gymnastics Club. It also began to service different age groups, including seniors. In 1985, the Santa Clara Youth Village facility was sold, and the proceeds were used to establish a Santa Clara University scholarship in Father Schmidt’s name. Father Schmidt died April 10, 1988. In 2005, Wutzit Club alumni succeeded in their lobbying efforts to name a newly created youth center in his honor, the Walter E. Schmidt Youth Activity Center in Santa Clara, California.

Bibliography

Paluzzi, Suzy. “The Wutzit Club Alumni Reunion.” The Santa Clara Weekly, November 25, 2009. Web. (Accessed Nov. 2, 2015)

Father Schmidt and the Santa Clara Valley Youth Village: 50 Years a Jesuit, circa 1989. Print.

Note: This biographical note consists of excerpts taken verbatim or paraphrased from the Father Schmidt and the Santa Clara Valley Youth Village: 50 Years a Jesuit, pamphlet.

Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California’s oldest operating institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original 21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name.

Bibliography

Santa Clara University. “About SCU – History.” www.scu.edu/about/history.cfm (Accessed Nov. 23, 2010)

McKevitt, Gerald, S.J. The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.