The 1980s
1980
10,000-square-foot bookstore/mail center opens.
Center for Public Interest Law begins operations, including publication of a quarterly journal, the California Regulatory Law Reporter . CPIL intern launches the Utility Consumers' Action Network in 1983.
School of Business Administration receives blue-ribbon accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.
Freshman men's crew wins the San Diego city championships six times between 1980 and 1988.
1981
San Dimas Missions residence complex (phase B) is completed; accommodates 350 students.
Deficit acquired as part of the 1972 merger is eliminated.
1982
Guadalupe Hall office building opens. Replaces an open-air amphitheater, named Alcalá Theater, originally on the site.
Computer science, marine studies, communication studies and electrical engineering majors are added over the next four years.
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps introduced.
Philip Y. Hahn School of Nursing is granted a chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the national honor society for nurses. The school's graduate program receives accreditation from the National League for Nursing.
In their first entry, business school students take the grand championship in the International Business Policy Games, an annual competition in which students manage a computer-simulated business for a representative five-year period.
Women's sports teams (except softball) all reach NCAA Division I status.
Football Toreros play Occidental College on national television during an NFL players' strike.
1983
Academic Computing department is formed.
University reaches the $15 million goal of the Discovery capital campaign.
1984
Olin Hall, new home to the School of Business Administration, opens.
Douglas F. Manchester Executive Conference Center opens.
Two-story Helen K. and James S. Copley library addition opens.
School of Education moves into the space vacated by the School of Business Administration, the building originally known as the House of Studies of the Verona Fathers. Ray and Lu Harmon donate the funds to renovate the facility, and the building is named Harmon Hall.
Men's basketball wins WCC championship, goes to the NCAA Division I playoffs for the first time.
1985
First students admitted to the Doctor of Nursing Science program. Fewer than 30 universities in the United States offer such a program at this time.
Master's degrees in practical theology, international business, taxation, and business and nursing (joint degree) introduced over the next two years.
Institute for Christian Ministries founded.
USD and Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute announce partnership to offer San Diego's first undergraduate marine studies program.
USD launches a quarterly alumni magazine, then called U Magazine .
Women's novice crew wins the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship.
1986
Electrical engineering program launched. Industrial and systems engineering added in 1996.
International programs and global education are the focus of university committees.
Nationally recognized moral philosophers from across the country meet on campus for USD's first "Forum on Human Values."
USD launches director of volunteer programs position at the university, the first university in the country to fund such a position.
Men's crew wins the city championship - besting SDSU and UCSD - every year from 1986 through 1989. Women's junior varsity crew wins the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship. Varsity men and varsity women both win the California Cup at the Crew Classic in Mission Bay.
Women's softball reaches NCAA Division I status.
1987
Ernest and Jean Hahn University Center is dedicated. The 76,000-square-foot facility houses the student dining facilities and also is the center of student life and social activities.
156-unit Alcalá Vista apartment complex opens for 400 graduate and undergraduate students.
USD launches $45 million Education for a New Age capital campaign to support endowment and facilities.
Master of fine arts degree in dramatic arts is founded in conjunction with the Old Globe Theatre.
New master of science degree in taxation requires students to enroll in courses at the School of Business Administration and the School of Law.
Men's basketball wins second WCC championship, advances to NCAA Division I playoffs.
1988
Construction of an addition to the law library begins.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa receives an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Speaks to 6,000 admirers on campus.
American Humanics Program, which prepares students for careers in youth and social service organizations, debuts.
New graduate programs in marine science and ocean studies are announced. The programs will launch in the fall of 1989.
USD registers the university on the Internet under the domain name acusd.edu. The preferable name usd.edu was already taken by the University of South Dakota.
1989
5,000-square-foot Manchester Family Child Development Center opens for preschool children of faculty, staff and students.
Education for a New Age capital campaign publicly announced; $21 million of $47.5 million goal already committed.
USD's first endowed chair, the DeForest Strunk Chair of Special and Teacher Education, is established in the School of Education.
Children's Advocacy Institute founded as part of the Center for Public Interest Law. CAI trains law students to be child advocates and represents children in the courts, before administrative agencies, in the legislature and through public education programs.
Master of arts degree in pastoral care and counseling added.
Three fraternities and two sororities are added to the Greek system.
Men's tennis ranks 14 th nationally and women's tennis ranks 16 th nationally in Division I competition.
Men's crew wins the California Cup.
| 40th Anniversary Snapshot | |
| Enrollment | 5,921 |
| Faculty | 398 |
| Annual Undergraduate Tuition | $9,340 |
| Annual Room and Board | $3,600 to $6,390 |
| Degrees Awarded | 1,469 |
| Campus Buildings | 27 |
| Square Footage | 1.3 million |