Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and the first college in the state authorized to grant the

baccalaureate degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

to women. In 2021, the university announced it will begin to operate as a

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

only. The university is organized into three schools: the School of Business and Management, the School of Education, and the School of Psychology. Notre Dame de Namur University offers 15

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

s, 10 graduate degrees and four credentials. In addition to traditional undergraduate and graduate programs, the university offers an evening bachelor's degree completion program for working adults as well as online degree programs.

History

Taube Center of the Notre Dame de Namur University (cropped)

Notre Dame de Namur University was founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as the Academy of Notre Dame in 1851 on 10 acres in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. The school was chartered in 1868 as the College of Notre Dame, the first college in the state of

authorized to grant the

to women. In 1922, the Sisters purchased

Ralston Hall Ralston Hall Mansion located in Belmont, California, was the country house of William Chapman Ralston, a San Francisco businessman, a founder of the Bank of California, and a financier of the Comstock Lode. It is an opulent Italianate Villa, mo ...

, the country estate of William Chapman Ralston, founder of the

Bank of California The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston and Darius Ogden Mills. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, the second-richest bank in the nation, and consid ...

. The college opened its doors in Belmont in 1923. In 1953 the College of Notre Dame became a four-year college with 23 Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur involved in the school. The college introduced evening classes in 1955, and in 1965, started the teaching credential programs. Originally a women's institution, College of Notre Dame became

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

in 1969; three men graduated as part of the class of 1970. The college expanded its offerings to include master's degrees in 1972 and added evening undergraduate programs in 1987. In 2001, the college established a structure dividing the university into schools. The name of the institution was changed to Notre Dame de Namur University that same year. In 2009, the university began offering partnerships with local community colleges to provide greater access to higher education, and that same year it became a Hispanic-Serving Institution, meaning at least 25% of its undergraduate population is Hispanic, that same year. The online degree program was established in 2012, and in 2013, the university introduced one of the first PhD programs in art therapy in the nation. The university established a new campus in Tracy, California in 2015, offering evening undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration. Launched in 2013, Notre Dame de Namur University was one of the first universities in the United States to offer a Ph.D. in

Art Therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art the ...

. The Art Therapy Ph.D. is also the first doctoral program offered at the university. In 2016 the faculty, both full-time and adjunct, unionized with SEIU 1021. This was a historic move since tenure-line professors at Catholic universities have had trouble unionizing since th
Yeshiva ruling
(1980). In December 2017, BINA48 (a Hanson Robotics robot) successfully participated as a guest student in a full semester college course on philosophy and love created and taught by Professor William J. Barry at Notre Dame de Namur University. The robot used an algorithm framework called TQ Theory created by Professor Barry to interact with rapport with students. In March 2020, the university announced major changes as a result of on-going financial issues, declining enrollment, and effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The Board of Trustees made the decision to prioritize current students completing degrees by the end of the 2020–21 academic year while assisting other students in transfer options due to uncertainty of operations beyond the spring 2021 semester. As part of the plan, Notre Dame suspended new student admissions for summer and fall 2020 sessions. The university also disbanded the athletics department at the conclusion of the 2019–20 academic year. In 2022, Notre Dame de Namur University became the first West Coast university to provide temporary housing for Afghan Refugees.

Campus

Notre Dame de Namur University is located in Belmont, California on the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

. The campus is less than 30 miles from downtown

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

and downtown San Jose.

Residence halls

Notre Dame de Namur University offers traditional dorm living in Julie Billiart Hall and St. Joseph's Hall, which are named for the co-foundresses of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Sister

Julie Billiart Julie Billiart (12 July 1751 – 8 April 1816) was a French nun, saint, educator, and founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was born in Cuvilly, a village in Picardy, in northern France. She was paralyzed and bedridden for 22 years, ...

and Sister St. Joseph Blin de Bourdon. The Carroll, Kane, and Wilkie Apartments are available for upperclassmen. Students also have the option of suite living in New Hall, where suites feature four rooms joined by a common area and sharing a bathroom. Residence hall floors are

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

.''Named Buildings.'' Notre Dame de Namur University, 2011. Saint Joseph's hall has now been transformed into faculty offices and also contains a lounge and the Housing Office.

Academic buildings

Cuvilly Hall, named for Sr. Julie Billiart's birthplace, is one of the main instructional buildings and houses the School of Business and Management. St. Mary's Hall is the largest instructional building and includes classrooms; science labs; two computer labs; public safety; and the financial aid,

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

, and business offices. Gavin Hall is the smallest of the three main instructional buildings and houses the Art Therapy program. The theater of Notre Dame de Namur University is located below the main campus on Ralston Avenue.

Ralston Hall

The Notre Dame de Namur University campus developed around

Mansion. William Chapman Ralston built Ralston Hall shortly after purchasing the property in 1864. William Ralston was a pivotal figure in the gold and silver bonanzas, which helped Ralston amass wealth. Ralston Hall was built with a steamboat gothic design on the interior, which is rumored to have been influenced by Ralston's love of boating from a young age."Ralston Hall Mansion , A Celebrated History." Ralston Hall Mansion , A Celebrated History. Ralston Hall Mansion, 2013. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. The interior of Ralston Hall is strikingly shaped like the inside of a boat. Ralston Hall was built as an entertainment destination. After William Ralston died, his business partner, William Sharon, came to control the mansion. Sharon was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

representing

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

from 1875 to 1881. Ralston Hall has been used for a variety of jobs throughout its history; Ralston Hall held one of the largest American weddings when William Sharon's daughter Flora married Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh of England. Notre Dame De Namur was chartered by the State of California in 1868 but was not affiliated with Ralston Hall until 1922. The mansion was a finishing school for young women until 1898."Historic Architecture Campus Project." Historic Colleges. N.p., Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2013. Since 1923 Ralston Hall has been affiliated with Notre Dame de Namur University. Until April 2012, the mansion housed admissions, administrative and faculty offices, and its first floor rooms, including a

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic ...

modeled after the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, were rented for events. However, in late 2011, a preliminary assessment of the structural integrity of Ralston Hall suggested that occupants may not be safe in the event of an earthquake. The building is unoccupied indefinitely, until funds can be raised to complete a replacement or retrofit of the masonry foundation, in addition to extensive seismic work on the upper floors. The renovation is estimated to cost more than $20 million

Satellite programs

Notre Dame de Namur University offers some bachelor's degree programs in partnership with local

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior s ...

campuses. Adult students who have completed enough units to enter Notre Dame de Namur University's evening bachelor's program can take the remaining classes for their bachelor's degree on the community college campus and receive a degree from NDNU. The university established a partnership with Mission College in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

in 2008 and offers a human services and a business degree on the community college campus. A human services program was established with Cañada College in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

in 2009. In 2010, evening business and psychology degrees were added to the partnership with Cañada College. In 2015, the university launched a satellite campus in Tracy, California. The NDNU Tracy campus offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, a bachelor's in human services, as well as teaching credentials. The classes are held in the evening in an accelerated format.

Organization and administration

Notre Dame de Namur University is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

governed by a

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit org ...

. University administration consists of a

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, a provost,

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

s for enrollment management, advancement, and finance and administration, a dean of students, and deans of the three schools. The university is organized into three schools: the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business and Management, and the School of Education and Psychology. Each school is led by a dean.

Student Assembly

The Student Assembly is the official student governing body of the university. The purpose of the Student Assembly Leadership Team (SALT) is to represent and to provide for the general welfare of the student body and the university. The leadership consists of a president, vice presidents for communications and finance, and two senators from each school.

Academics

Notre Dame de Namur University is a liberal arts institution offering bachelor's and master's degrees, a doctoral degree in Art Therapy, and teaching credentials. In addition to the degrees offered on the campus, several programs are available 100% online: bachelor's in Criminal Justice, Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), a Master of Science in Business Administration, and Master of Public Administration. Notre Dame de Namur University is currently ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the Best Regional Universities West and Best Value Schools.

Community-based learning

As part of the university's mission of social justice and the goal of equipping students with "what they need to know for life," Notre Dame de Namur University offers over 20 community-based learning (CBL) courses, designed to promote learning through community engagement. These courses involve partnerships within the community, and work for an outcome of affecting positive social change. Many of the academic programs at Notre Dame de Namur University offer CBL courses, including

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

, religious studies,

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, accounting, biological sciences,

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

, and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. NDNU has received the Carnegie Foundation's Elective Community Engagement Classification.

Accreditation

Notre Dame de Namur University is accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Sam ...

(WASC), Senior College and University Commission. Accredited or approved programs at Notre Dame de Namur University include: *Education Credentials: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing *Art Therapy: American Art Therapy Association *Marriage and Family Therapy: meets established guidelines of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences *Clinical Psychology/MFT: meets established guidelines of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences *Business:

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), formerly the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, is a U.S. organization offering accreditation services to business programs focused on teaching and learn ...

Sister Dorothy Stang Center

The Sister Dorothy Stang Center for Social Justice and Community Engagement (DSC) was established on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus in honor of the work of Sister Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN, who was murdered in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

due to her efforts to aid the poor farmers and the environment in that country. The center works to increase awareness of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justi ...

issues, as well as encourage dialogue, community service, engagement, and activism in these areas. Members of the university and the larger community can work with the DSC to create positive social change, and come to a greater understanding of the issues that affect the community.

Athletics

The Notre Dame de Namur University

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo ...

were the athletic teams of the university until 2020. The university mascot, the Argonaut, was named for the mythical

who sailed with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece. The team colors blue, gold and white reflected the colors of the university. At the time of the discontinuation, NDNU had 12 varsity sports. Men's sports included

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, soccer,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, track & field, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. Notre Dame athletics competed in the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) until after the 1996–97 season when the conference disbanded. NDNU joined the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) and the

California Pacific Conference The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Don Ott. Conference leadership is shared among the member in ...

(Cal Pac) from 1996–97 to 2004–05. The university re-joined the NCAA and the D-II ranks in 2005 when the

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. T ...

(PacWest) voted to admit Notre Dame de Namur University. The university most recently competed at the Division II level as members of the Pacific West, except for men's lacrosse, which had an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

affiliation after leaving the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association at the end of the 2014 spring season (2013–14 school year). In March 2020, the university announced the discontinuation of the athletics programs effective at the conclusion of the Spring 2020 semester. The decision was part of various changes to the university, citing an on-going financial situation and declining enrollment.

Diversity

Notre Dame de Namur University is one of the most diverse private colleges in California, qualifying as both a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI). The university's commitment to diversity is based on the Hallmarks of a Notre Dame de Namur Learning Community, which states, "We embrace the gift of diversity."

Notable alumni

* Maria Cristina Villanova de Arbenz, politician and First Lady of Guatemala * Lailee Bakhtiar, poet, journalist, author, novelist *

Eddie Baza Calvo Edward Jerome Baza Calvo (born August 29, 1961) is an American (U.S. citizen) politician who served as the 8th Governor of Guam from January 3, 2011 to January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Calvo was a five-term Senator within the ...

, politician, governor of Guam * Belo Cipriani, writer and LGBT activist *

Simon Enciso Simon Nicholas Marquez Enciso (born February 12, 1991) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Amateur career High school career Enciso attended at Terra ...

, professional athlete in basketball * Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa, politician and Princess of Hawaii * Morghan King, Olympic athlete in weightlifting * Matthew Mbu Junior, politician, senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria * Barbara Morgan, NASA astronaut * Susan Heon Preston, Olympic athlete in swimming *

Anton del Rosario Anton Edward Quimson del Rosario (born 23 December 1981) is an American-born Filipino footballer who plays as a right back or centre-back for Maharlika Manila, of which he is also a co-founder and co-owner. He represented the Philippines natio ...

, professional athlete in soccer * Dorothy Stang, class of 1964; activist, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur * Susie Wind, visual artist *

Emily Wu Emily Wu (巫一毛 Wu Yimao), born 3 June 1958 in Beijing, is a Chinese-American writer whose short stories have appeared in magazines and newspapers, and in an anthology of poetry and prose. She went to the United States of America in 1981 and ...

, author and novelist * Wang Yi, Olympic athlete in volleyball

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Notre Dame de Namur University Universities and colleges in San Mateo County, California Educational institutions established in 1851 Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur colleges and universities California Historical Landmarks School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in the San Francisco Bay Area Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Catholic universities and colleges in California Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Former women's universities and colleges in the United States 1851 establishments in California