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10 Beyond the Course Catalogue Archaeological Insights into the Life of Santa Clara University Russell K. Skowronek and Linda J. Hylkema Banking to the right, the Boeing 767 speeds north up the Santa Clara Valley toward its destination, the Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport. Thirty miles south of the plane’s destination it begins: the suburban sprawl associated with Silicon Valley that runs all the way from Gilroy to the Golden Gate. Here “old” and “out of date” are defined in terms of Moore’s Law: in years not decades (Malone 2002: 177). Because land is so valuable, adaptive reuse of existing structures is rarely contemplated. Instead they are usually torn down. It is not uncommon to see a single parcel pass through three incarnations in a decade (Skowronek with Thompson 2006: xviii–xix). From the birthplace of the modern computer age at what was an IBM plant to the 150–year-old adobe home of Juana Briones, a California entrepreneur, the few remaining “historic” structures more often than not are regularly demolished . Business dictates the fast pace of change in every corner of the valley. As the airplane begins its final approach into the airport for Silicon Valley , what seems to be a timeless hundred-acre oasis of tile roofed buildings, green sports fields, and a church is visible a few blocks west of the airport: Santa Clara University. Santa Clara College/University This institution is under the super-intendance [sic] of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and it is open to all, who choose to avail themselves of its advantages. Preface, Catalogue, Santa Clara College, Academic Year 1870–71 Santa Clara College, the forerunner of Santa Clara University, opened it doors in 1851: 225 years after Harvard was founded, 3 years after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 2 years after the start of the California Beyond the Course Catalogue 183 Gold Rush, and a year after California statehood. It is the oldest institution of higher education west of the Mississippi River. Over its century and a half of existence it has gained notoriety in its sports, its faculty, and its curriculum. In 1949 its football team defeated the University of Kentucky (led by famed coach Paul “Bear” Bryant) in the Orange Bowl; more recently, the women’s soccer team won the NCAA championship in 1999. Its faculty boasted John Montgomery, one of the pioneers of “heavier than air” flight, who was immortalized in the 1946 film Gallant Journey, and Father Jerome Sixtus Ricard, S.J., the meteorologist and astronomer credited with correlating sunspot activity and weather (Hayn 2002; McKay 2002). Both men were commemorated on campus with a monument and buildings and in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum on the Mall. Another faculty member, Bernard Hubbard, S.J., became known as the “Glacier Priest” in the 1930s and 1940s for his work in Alaska. Though he was trained in geology, Father Hubbard’s fame is derived from the thousands of photographs and thousands of feet of films he made among the Native peoples of Alaska (Hayn 2002; McKay 2002; Scarborough 2001). A significant fraction of Hubbard’s photographic collection and other material collections remain on campus, but much of the movie footage is now housed in the Smithsonian, where it may be readily accessed by researchers and Native Alaskans (Scarborough 2001). For more than a century Santa Clara’s student body was male. During World War II the university began to change. Enrollments fell as young men and many priests enlisted or were drafted (McKay 2002: 150; McKevitt 1979: 261). The Santa Clara School of Law closed due to lack of enrollment. By 1944 the regular student body numbered 91, but they were joined by 375 soldiers obtaining special training in engineering. Other classes were opened to female students for the first time (McKay 2002: 150). In 1955 Santa Clara hired its first female professor. Shortly thereafter, in 1956, women matriculated in the law school and in nursing classes. The school of business became coeducational in 1958. Finally, in 1961 women were admitted as undergraduates for the first time. At the beginning of the twenty-first century women make up the majority of the student body. The Santa Clara University Archaeology Research Lab Today more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in this highly rated institution. They come because of the school’s academic reputation and its pledge to provide ample courses for...

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