Saint Mary's College of California

Archbishop José Sadoc Alemany founded St. Mary's in 1863. St. Mary's College began in 1863 as a diocesan college for boys established by Joseph Alemany , a member of the Dominicans and the first archbishop of San Francisco. One of its first donors was Mary Ellen Pleasant , a famed Black Catholic philanthropist who gave the school roughly $10,000 in today's money to help get the school off the ground. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Unhappy with the archdiocese's operation of the college, Alemany applied for assistance from Rome and in 1868 St. Mary's College was handed over to the De La Salle Christian Brothers . [ 7 ] In 1889, the college moved east across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, California . The location on the corner of 30th and Broadway became affectionately known as "The Brickpile" [ 8 ] and Saint Mary's College would call Oakland home until 1928, [ 9 ] when it moved further eastward to Moraga after a fire severely damaged the Brickpile. The Oakland site is California Historical Landmark #676 and has been marked by a commemorative plaque . [ 8 ] The former San Francisco site is now the site of the St. Mary's Park neighborhood . The college and high school sections separated not long after the move to Moraga and the high school is currently located in Albany . The California Churrigueresque style Chapel of St. Mary is modeled after the Cathedral of Cuernavaca . Interior of the Chapel of St. Mary. During its first years in Moraga, the college nearly went bankrupt, but eventually managed to gain financial security when it was bought by Archbishop John Joseph Mitty , for whom a residence hall is now named. During World War II the college was used by the United States Navy for the training of pilots. Former President Gerald Ford was briefly stationed at the school and served as a naval instructor.

[ 10 ] The navy erected many buildings, including the world's largest indoor pool, but only one, Assumption Hall, remains on the campus as the school had little use for most of the buildings after the war. Saint Mary's continued to be a male-only school until 1970, [ 11 ] when it became coeducational. Since then, more women have come to the college and by 2011, 62% of the students were women. [ 12 ] In the 1970s, the college was well known by secondary schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for producing the Saint Mary's Math Contest. [ 13 ] The popular contest was discontinued in 1978 but later became the chief inspiration for the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival which continues to this day. [ 14 ] Roughly two dozen Christian Brothers still live and work at the school and the school presidents had always been Brothers until 2013. Recognizing the dwindling number of Christian Brothers, in 2003 the college's bylaws were changed to allow the election of a non-Christian Brother to the presidency if no qualified Brother exists or steps forward. James A. Donahue, a committed and engaged Roman Catholic, became the first non-Christian Brother to serve as president in the 150-year history of Saint Mary's on July 1, 2013.

Brousseau Hall is home to the School of Science. Quick facts Academic rankings, Master's ... Academic rankings Master's Washington Monthly [ 15 ] 106 Regional U.S. News & World Report [ 16 ] 4 National Forbes [ 17 ] 297 WSJ /College Pulse [ 18 ] 193 Close More information Race and ethnicity, Total ... Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2020 Race and ethnicity [ 19 ] Total White 39% Hispanic 30% Asian 11% Other [ a ] 11% Black 4% Foreign national 3% Pacific Islander 2% Economic diversity Low-income [ b ] 23% Affluent [ c ] 77% Close There are four schools at Saint Mary's: the School of Liberal Arts, the School of Science, the School of Economics and Business Administration, and the Kalmanovitz School of Education. Saint Mary's College is a liberal arts institution, and the majority of undergraduate students are in the School of Liberal Arts. However, the most popular major is Business Administration. This is followed by Psychology, Communication, Kinesiology, and Accounting. The average class size is 19, with a student faculty ratio of 13:1. 91% of classes are taught by full-time faculty, of which 95% hold the highest degree in their fields. [ 12 ] There are 40 academic majors, with an option to create your own major. Most Saint Mary's faculty are required to teach six courses per year (three per semester). Collegiate seminar In addition to these general education courses, traditional four-year students take three Collegiate Seminar courses. Although previously based on the academic programs at St. John's College , the Saint Mary's College program is required for all students regardless of major. The first course is offered in the spring of their first year, in the fall of their sophomore year, and then students have the choice of when they want to take the last course during their junior or senior years. Transfer students take a course that combines the first and second-year courses before completing the final course.

One section of a Seminar elective course, Multicultural Thought, is offered in both the fall and spring semesters.