2000-2001 Just the Facts

A COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS For more than 50 years, the University of San Diego bas been dedicated to providing values-based education and to the continuing examination of the Catholic tradition in contemporary life. USD offers its students an academically challenging environment that recognizes the dignity of men and women as creatures of God. USD's 180-acre campus, known as Alcala Park, overlooks San Diego's Mission Bay and is within view of the spot where Father J unipero Serra celebrated the first Catholic Mass in Alta California in 1769. Like California's oldest city, the university took its name from San Diego de Alcala, a Franciscan brother who served as the infirmarian at Alcala de Henares, a monastery near Madrid, Spain. Tbe graceful Spanish Renaissance archjtecture that characterizes the five-century old University of Alcala serves as the inspiration for all the buildings on the USO campus. Under the leadersrup of Mother Rosalie Hill and Bishop Charles Francis Buddy, and sponsored by the Diocese of San Diego, the Uruversity of San mega began as separate colleges for men and women. The first classes met in 1952; the School of Law opened its doors in 1954. By the late 1960s, it became clear both colleges would benefit from a merger, and in J 972 the two colleges and the School of Law became a co-educational private Catholic university. Now governed by an independent board of trustees instead of the Church, the university remajns dedicated to the values originally articulated by Mother Hill and Bishop Buddy. USO has always recognized that rigorous academic challenge is only part of a hohstic education, creating opportunities for spiritual, cultural, physical and emotional development. Students are encouraged to develop knowledge, values and skills to enrich their lives and to prepare them for careers that benefit the global, civic and faith communjties.

As a proudly Roman Catholic institution, USD welcomes students, faculty and staff of diverse religious traditions . The university now enrolls more than 6 900 students who choose from more than 50 under~aduate and graduate degree programs. USD's academic divisions include the College ofArts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law and Nursing. Men aspiring to the Roman Catholic priesthood take their academic work at the university while living in St. Francis Seminary, adjacent to the campus. From its early days as a seaport town serving a large Naval installation, San Diego has matured into one of the world's great cities. Now the sixth-largest city in the United States, San Diego is at the epicenter of burgeoning industries including bio-technology, software development and telecommunications, in addition to emerging as a major player in Pacific Rim economics. The museums clustered at Balboa Park, only a short drive from the USD campus, are the heart of the city's cultural life and a renaissance is taking place in the nearby downtown area, soon home to a new ballpark for the San Diego Padres, helping transform San Diego into a leading 21st century city.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO

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