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.

Santa Clara University held its first commencement ceremony in 1857, and awarded the first bachelor’s degree given in California to Thomas I. Bergin from San Francisco. According to The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977, commencement ceremonies at the university during this time period were “a two-day academic marathon, attracting full coverage in the San Francisco press and drawing large crowds of parents and spectators to campus. Scientific lectures and experiments, dramatic productions, and musical entertainment . . . were standard features on the program.” Today, Santa Clara University’s commencement ceremony and Baccalaureate Mass continue to honor graduates for their academic and intellectual achievements, as well as their commitment to the ideologies of competence, conscience, and compassion, which are fundamental to the university’s mission and the Jesuit philosophy of "educating the whole person."

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.