Santa Clara University

The 2009-2010 President's Speaker Series, titled "Globalization: Boon or Bane for Humanity" is underway.

On October 15, 2009, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, kicked off the 2009-2010 President's Speaker Series with a lecture on homeland security in a networked age. A member of Santa Clara's Class of 1979, Napolitano was selected by the Obama Administration to head the Department of Homeland Security in early 2009.

Upcoming lectures include Jon Sobrino, S.J. who will discuss the challenge of the Salvadoran martyrs, David Sanger's discussion of America's financial crisis , and Regina Rabinovich who will discuss global health issues and "neglected diseases."

To learn more about the President's Speaker Series, please contact Santa Clara University's Development Office at 408-554-4400. You can also order tickets online.

Team California wins third place in the 2009 Solar Decathlon!

Congratulations to Team California - Santa Clara University and California College of the Arts - on their third place finish at the 2009 Solar Decathlon! After a year of planning, and a week of intense competition, we can truly be proud of Team California. To learn more about the Solar Decathlon competition and to see the breakdown of the points, please visit the Department of Energy website. You can also visit the Santa Clara Facebook page to view photos of Team California's trip to Washington D.C. and the rest of the solar homes!

 

Last year, 19 students received scholarships to participate in the Mexico Immersion Trip over Thanksgiving break.

Over Thanksgiving break, students and alumni will travel to Mexico to take part in an immersion trip. In partnership with Amor Ministries, a non-profit interfaith organization, whose mission is to provide housing for the poor, participants will spend four days constructing homes using basic materials and simple hand tools. 

Students and alumni will have the opportunity to immerse themselves with the local community and see firsthand the poverty and living conditions that these individuals are faced with on a daily basis. 

Last year, 19 students benefitted from scholarships provided by the Santa Clara Fund. Scholarships were awarded to students who demonstrated a desire to participate in the immersion trip but who could not afford to attend the trip otherwise.

 

Join your classmates this weekend at the 2009 Grand Reunion!

Broncos from the classes of 2009, 2004, 1999, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1979, 1974, 1969, and 1964 are celebrating their reunion this weekend! If you are in one of these classes, its not too late to join us for a class dinner on October 17, run in the 5k on Saturday morning or reconnect with alumni from your department on Saturday night. Online reigstration is closed, but you can still call in to RSVP at 408-554-6800. If you would like to make a gift in honor of your reunion, you can easily do so online.

Santa Clara University and California College of the Arts have partnered to compete in the 2009 US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.

Tool belts and hard hats have replaced the backpacks and the laptops of some students at Santa Clara University and California College of Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, as they began construction on a solar-powered house for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon.

When the first shipment of lumber and steel arrived at Santa Clara University’s campus early Tuesday morning, the students went right to work, building the core of the 800 square-foot home. A beam of refracted light served as the inspiration for the 2009 home design. Some of the features of the innovative systems include photovoltaic array, high-efficiency inverters, and thermal efficiencies, all of which will help run a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and cook a meal.

The Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, brings together 20 teams from colleges and universities around the world to design, build, and operate the most energy-efficient, attractive, and comfortable house, powered exclusively by the sun. In October, the teams will transport their homes to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., creating a “solar village.”

This year's team is relying on corporate sponsors as well as individual supporters who will make it possible for the team to complete the solar home and compete in the Solar Decathlon. To support Santa Clara's team, you can make a gift online to the Solar Decathlon Fund.

Current students affected by the economic downturn can access a new emergency fund.

Students whose families are experiencing hardship due to the current economic downturn can access emergency funds through Santa Clara.

The Emergency Financial Aid Fund was established last year by an anonymous SCU trustee with a gift of $100,000, which allowed 46 students in critical situations to continue their educations.

At the beginning of this year, an anonymous donor agreed to match other gifts for emergency aid with a challenge grant of $100,000 on a $1 for $2 basis. Other donors have stepped up to help students in need.

If all the challenge donations are met, the university will receive $900,000 for emergency financial aid for students, and an additional 61 students in critical need will be able to remain enrolled at Santa Clara.

Learn more about how to make a gift to support emergency financial aid for students.
 

$7 million gift for activity center honors Chancellor Locatelli.

Santa Clara will break ground in the fall of 2009 on a new building to be the hub for student groups and activities.

It will be called the Paul L. Locatelli, S.J., Student Activity Center to honor Chancellor Locatelli, the president of SCU for 20 years from 1988 to 2008 who made it a goal to establish a place for students to gather.

Mary Mathews-Stevens '84 and her husband, Mark, a partner in the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, donated $7 million for the center, which the university expects to complete in 2010.

The couple previously donated $500,000 to endow a fellowship program for graduates of Mary's Portland, Oregon, high school who wish to attend SCU. The new student center was “a perfect project to support given my deep involvement with student government, sports, and other student activities while I was an undergraduate at SCU,” said Mary.

The gift was announced in the fall of 2008, at a time when many U.S. colleges and universities were being forced to slash budgets and delay capital improvement projects.

“We see our donation as a long-term investment in the quality of student life at Santa Clara. It is indeed fortunate that we are able to support the mission of the University in these very turbulent economic conditions," Mark explained.

Mary, on the SCU Board of Fellows since 2001, said, “It was a real stretch economically for my parents to send me there. Along the way, I received a great education, had many great experiences, and established many friendships that persist to this day. Mark and I feel so blessed that we can help generations of future Broncos.”