Santa Clara University

California mission era

Inheriting the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asís, Santa Clara University's campus, library holdings, art collection, and many of its defining traditions date back to 1777, almost 75 years before its founding. In January of that year, Saint Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan friar, established Mission Santa Clara as the eighth of 21 Alta California missions. Fray Tomás de la Peña chose a site along the Guadalupe River for the future church, erecting a cross and celebrating the first Mass a few days later. The campus was built on the land of the Ohlone people who relocated after suffering a decline in population due to epidemics and a loss of natural resources in the area.

Natural disasters forced early priests to relocate and rebuild the church on several occasions, moving it westward and away from the river. Built of wood, the first permanent structure quickly flooded and was replaced by a larger adobe building in 1784. This building suffered heavy damage in an 1818 earthquake and was replaced six years later by a new adobe edifice.

Early college history

The mission flourished for more than 50 years despite these setbacks. Beginning in the 1830s, however, the mission lands were repossessed in conjunction with government policy implemented via the Mexico's secularization, and church buildings fell into disrepair. The bishop of Monterey, Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany, offered the site to Italian Jesuits John Nobili and Michael Accolti in 1851 on condition that they found a college for California's growing Catholic population when it became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War (1846–48).

Two colleges were organized during 1851 in the small agricultural town of Santa Clara, at the height of the Gold Rush, less than a year after California was granted statehood. Santa Clara College, forerunner of Santa Clara University, was the first to open its doors to students and is the state's oldest operating institution of higher education. Shortly after Santa Clara began instruction, the Methodist-run California Wesleyan College (now known as University of the Pacific) received a charter from the State Superior Court on July 10, 1851—the first granted in California—and it began enrolling students in May of the following year. Santa Clara's Jesuit founders lacked the $20,000 endowment required for a charter, which was eventually accumulated and a charter granted on April 28, 1855.

Santa Clara bears the distinction of awarding California's first bachelor's degree, bestowed upon Thomas I. Bergin in 1857, as well as its first graduate degree granted two years later.

The California Historical Society, the official state historical society of California, was founded in June 1871 on the campus of the College of Santa Clara by a group of prominent Californian politicians and professors, led by Californian Assemblyman John W. Dwinelle (an influential founder of the University of California).

Modern era

In 1912, the College of Santa Clara separated out its secondary-school component, Santa Clara Prep (now known as Bellarmine College Preparatory), and became the University of Santa Clara, with the addition of the School of Law and the School of Engineering.

In 1923, the Leavey School of Business was founded.

Leavey School of Business

The Leavey School of Business was founded in 1923 and accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business thirty years later. Students can earn a Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Master of Business Administration, Executive Master of Business Administration, and Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS).

Drew Starbird has been dean of the school since 2010. He was replaced by Caryn Beck-Dudley starting in the 2015–16 school year.

Athletic facilities

Buck Shaw Stadium: Named after Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw, the school's football coach (1936–1942) and an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. Shaw later coached at the University of California, Berkeley, and with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, whom he guided to the NFL Championship in 1960. The stadium, longtime home of Bronco football and baseball, is now entirely dedicated to SCU's soccer programs. The stadium was expanded to 10,300 seats after the 2007 season, and the soccer pitch and stadium facilities were modernized and improved. The stadium was temporarily home to Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes, who began their return to the league in April 2008.

Leavey Center: Santa Clara University's Arena is home to the men's and women's basketball teams and volleyball team. The Leavey Center is used as a concert venue and a hall for large lectures and speeches. The Leavey Center houses athletic department offices, a weight room, an academic center, team rooms, a video control room, lower and upper-level seating, and a suite that overlooks the court. The university's pool is adjacent to the arena. The Leavey Center has a capacity of 4,500.