Santa Clara University

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Sept. 20, 2005.  The 2005-06 academic year is officially underway at Santa Clara University with classes beginning Monday, September 19. The first day back was filled with events geared toward bringing the entire SCU community together in celebration of the school year. 

The events began with a noontime Mass at the Mission Santa Clara de Asís, where participants prayed for the safety and success of the SCU community throughout the academic year. Following Mass, a community lunch was held on Bellomy Field where students, faculty, and staff sat together at picnic tables and on blankets, soaking up the afternoon sun before heading into the Leavey Center for Convocation 2005. SCU President, Paul Locatelli, S.J., welcomed students and faculty to the start of the school year and shared his thoughts about the university’s priorities for the upcoming year. Francisco Jiménez, author, director of the Ethnic Studies Program and the Fay Boyle Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, delivered the keynote address. Jiménez gave a very personal and heartwarming account of the role SCU has played in his life over the past 40 years. Jiménez closed his address by answering the question, “What does Santa Clara mean to me?” In response he said, “You (the SCU community) are what Santa Clara means to me.” 

During Convocation, students displaced by Hurricane Katrina and attending SCU were recognized, as well as students, faculty, and staff who received awards for their outstanding achievements and service to the University. The day’s events closed on a high note with the band, Slightly Stoopid, performing an exclusive, private concert for SCU students on Bellomy Field.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its 8,213 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the third-highest graduation rate among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu.