University of San Francisco - University of San Francisco

The Campus History Series

UNIVERSITY OF

SAN FRANCISCO

ON THE FRONT COVER: Pictured here is St. Ignatius Church and College on October 15, 1905, celebrating its 50th anniversary. (Courtesy of the University of San Francisco archives.)

COVER BACKGROUND: St. Ignatius Church and College in San Francisco is seen as it appeared in 1863. The building was located on the south side of an unpaved Market Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. (Courtesy of the University of San Francisco archives.)

The Campus History Series

UNIVERSITY OF

SAN FRANCISCO

ALAN ZIAJKA AND ROBERT ELIAS

Copyright 2015 by Alan Ziajka and Robert Elias
ISBN 978-1-4671-3307-4
Ebook ISBN 9781439651186

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014949302

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many individuals made this book possible. We are indebted to Michael Kotlanger, SJ, USF archivist, who provided much of the primary material for the book, including photographs, newspapers, letters, and other documents. Candice Novak, assistant director for e-communications in the office of communications and marketing, also supplied a number of the photographs we used. We also greatly appreciate the skillful work of Eugene Vinluan-Pagal, production manager in the USF office of communications and marketing, who enhanced, organized, and oversaw the production of all the images used in this book. We are indebted to the work of Paola Cespedes de Ergueta, our research associate, and are grateful to two USF students, Emily McPartlon and Cindy Vo, who served over the past year as research assistants for the book.

Jennifer Turpin, provost, and Gerardo Marn, senior vice provost for academic affairs, both supported this project in many ways, including granting the time and resources necessary to complete the book.

In the final analysis, it has been the students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff at the University of San Francisco, stretching back 160 years, who made this book possible. The world is a better place because of the men and women who make up the extended USF community, and it is to these individuals that this book is dedicated. Unless otherwise noted, all images appear courtesy of the University of San Francisco archives.

Alan Ziajka, PhD
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and University Historian
University of San Francisco

Robert Elias, PhD
Professor of Politics
University of San Francisco

INTRODUCTION

The University of San Francisco began in 1855 as a one-room schoolhouse called St. Ignatius Academy. Its founding was interwoven with the establishment of the Jesuit order in California, European immigration to the western United States, and the population growth of California and San Francisco as a result of the California Gold Rush.

On October 15, 1855, the school opened its doors to its first class. Three students showed up, a number that gradually grew to 65 by 1858. In 1859, Anthony Maraschi, SJ, the founding president of St. Ignatius Academy, incorporated the institution under California state law, obtained a charter to issue college degrees, formed a board of trustees, and renamed the institution St. Ignatius College. Student enrollment, composed largely of first- and second-generation Irish and Italian immigrants, increased to 457 by 1862.

In 1880, further growth in the number of students prompted St. Ignatius Church and College to move to the corner of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, the current site of the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The college began at this new location with 650 students and rave reviews in the local press. The institution occupied a full city block and was described by the San Francisco Post as having scientific laboratories and departments as thoroughly equipped as money can make them and a library that contained the cream of knowledge on all necessary subjects. The attached church was depicted as magnificent and could hold up to 4,000 people. In 1903, the college added a splendid new gymnasium, portrayed by the San Francisco Call as the best in the city.

The history of St. Ignatius Church and College at this location came to an abrupt end on April 18, 1906. On the morning of that day, an earthquake, followed by several days of fire, brought the church and college, and most of San Francisco, to almost complete ruin. The city and the institution, however, quickly rebuilt from the devastation. In September 1906, St. Ignatius Church and School reopened in temporary quarters, known as the shirt factory, on the southwest corner of Hayes and Shrader Streets, currently the site of one of the buildings of St. Marys Medical Center. In 1927, St. Ignatius College moved into the new Liberal Arts Building, the present day Kalmanovitz Hall, near the corner of Fulton and Parker Streets. In 1930, at the request of several alumni groups, St. Ignatius College changed its name to the University of San Francisco.

For 160 years, the University of San Francisco has served the citizens of San Francisco and enriched the lives of thousands of people. The institution has graduated students who went on to become leaders in government, education, religion, business, journalism, sports, the sciences, and the legal and health-related professions. Among its alumni, the university counts three former San Francisco mayors, numerous current city officials, a former US senator, one current and three former California Supreme Court justices, a former California lieutenant governor, two Pulitzer Prize winners, three Olympic medalists, several professional athletes, and a former president of Peru. USF has more than 100,000 alumni living in all 50 states, six US territories, and 129 countries.

Today, the University of San Francisco enrolls more than 10,700 students in its four schools and one college: the School of Law, founded in 1912; the College of Arts and Sciences, organized in 1925; the School of Management, which began in 1925 as the College of Commerce and Finance and was merged with the College of Professional Studies in 2009; the School of Education, which started as the Department of Education in 1947 and was upgraded to a school in 1972; and the School of Nursing and Health Professions, which began as the Department of Nursing in 1948 and became a school in 1954. USF is one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the nation. Among the entire fall 2014 student population, 47 percent were Asian, African American, Latino, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or Native American, and 16 percent were international. In 1964, USF became completely coeducational, though women had been enrolled in the evening programs in law and business since 1927, in education since 1947, and in nursing since 1948. In the fall of 2014, sixty-three percent of the overall student population was female.

Central to the mission of the University of San Francisco is the preparation of men and women to shape a multicultural world with generosity, compassion, and justice. The institutions vision, mission, and values statement, approved by the board of trustees on September 11, 2001, after a year of formulation and campus-wide participation, captures the essence of this commitment in its opening paragraph: The University of San Francisco will be internationally recognized as a premier Jesuit Catholic, urban University with a global perspective that educates leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. This mission permeates all aspects of the institution, including student learning and faculty development, curriculum design, program and degree offerings, alumni relations, publications, and a host of other institutional features.