Celebrate 60 Years

In 2009, the University of San Diego will commemorate six decades of unparalleled success in the advancement of education, intellectual development and community stewardship. Throughout the anniversary year, USD, along with its students, faculty, alumni, friends and corporate partners, will come together for an ongoing series of community-oriented programs and events. Six decades of distinguished alumni and faculty — and thousands of the individuals and organizations touched by the university — will be inspired by how far the University of San Diego has come and the ways it will inspire the world in the future.

Six Decades of Success

From the first celebrated shovel strokes at the San Diego College for Women's groundbreaking ceremony in 1948 to the Toreros remarkable win in the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Torero timeline of academic and athletic excellence is replete with memorable moments that have played an integral role in the university’s rise to national prominence. The following is a select list of events that have helped define the USD experience during the past 60 years:

Decade 1   |   1949 - 1958

	1949	The state of California granted official charters to the San Diego College for Men, the College for Women and the School of Law.
	1952	Classes begin for the College for Women in buildings that would later become Founders' Hall and Camino Hall.
	1954	The College for Men and the School of Law begin classes in Bogue Hall at the site of what was to become University High School across Linda Vista Road. The building was used for undergraduate classes during the day and law classes in the evening.
	1958	With More Hall (later renamed Warren Hall) completed, the students and faculty of the College for Men and School of Law move to campus.
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Decade 2   |   1959 - 1968

	1959	The church of The Immaculata is dedicated. Originally designed to serve as the main chapel of the University of San Diego and the Immaculate Heart Seminary, the church would later be transferred to the Diocese of San Diego, but has remained the focal point of campus spirituality, as well as a fundamental component of the university's visual identity.
	1960	Upon the completion of Serra Hall, the College for Men finally moves to its own building and the Law School is no longer required to share its space with undergraduates.
	1963	The university's first sports facility is dedicated.
	1964	The College for Women establishes the Guadalajara Program in conjunction with Guadalajara's Institute of Technology, providing students with an interdisciplinary summer program along with an immersion in Mexican language and culture.
	1967	The Reciprocal Course Agreement which allows for cross registration in College for Men and College for Women courses is signed signaling the beginning of merger negotiations between the colleges. Msgr. John E. Baer served as the final president of the College for Men and Sister Nancy Morris, R.S.C.J. of the College for Women.
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Decade 3   |   1969 - 1978

	1971	Author E. Hughes, vice president and provost of Northern Arizona University, is named first president of the merged University of San Diego. Sister Sally Furay, R.S.C.J., former dean of the College for women, became vice president and provost.
	1972	The three colleges merge and form what is now the University of San Diego; Schools of Business Administration and Education are founded.
	1973	James S. Copley Library (formerly Camino Library) is dedicated. The new facility combines the holdings of the Knights of Columbus Library at the College for Men and the Camino Library at the College for Women. The Knights of Columbus building becomes the library for the School of Law.
	1975	Classes begin at the Phillip Y. Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science.
	1977	The Grace Courtroom on the third floor of the School of Law is dedicated in November with Chief Justice Rose Bird presiding over a session of the California Supreme Court.
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Decade 4   |   1979 - 1988

	1979	USD athletics earns NCAA Division I status.
	1980	School of Business Administration receives accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.
	1984	Olin Hall is completed to house the School of Business Administration; Douglas F. Manchester Executive Conference Center opens; Copley Library dedicates the Helen K. and James Copley addition. The men’s basketball team makes the first of four trips to the NCAA Tournament. They returned in 1987, 2003 and 2008.
	1987	The Ernest and Jean Hahn University Center is completed under the leadership of President Hughes.
	1988	Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mother Teresa receives an honorary degree from USD and speaks to 6,000 people on campus.
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Decade 5   |   1989 - 1998

	1989	The Manchester Child Development Center opens offering pre-school to children of faculty, staff and members of the community.
	1990	The newly reconstructed law library is dedicated the Katherine M. and George M. Pardee Legal Research Center.
	1992	The men's soccer team plays for the Division I NCAA Championship; a first in school history.
	1993	The USD football team joins the NCAA Division I-AA Pioneer Football League.
	1995	Alice B. Hayes succeeds Author E. Hughes as university president.
	1996	USD's Shiley Theatre hosts the final presidential debate between Democratic candidate Bill Clinton and Republican candidate Bob Dole.
	1996	The Hughes Administration Center opens in the former diocesan headquarters. The Shumway Fountain and Colalchis Plaza add to the completed mall, closing Marian Way to through traffic.
	1998	The Mission Parking Structure is completed on the east side of campus.
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Decade 6   |   1999 - 2009

	2000	The Jenny Craig Pavilion together with the Msgr. I. Brent Eagen Plaza and Pardee Fountain open for athletic events. Mortar Board, a national honor society for college seniors, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, which recognizes first- and second-year college students, install chapters at USD.
	2001	Construction is completed on the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice; a 90,000 square-foot facility designed to provide a forum for conflict resolution on a local, national and international level.
	2002	Manchester Village residential complex opened for students and faculty. It was awarded Builders Magazine’s Award of Merit in 2003.
	2003	Mary E. Lyons succeeds Alice B. Hayes as university president. The Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology, planned during the administration of President Hayes, is dedicated.
	2003	The West Parking Structure is opened for students, faculty and visitors.
	2003	USD is granted a charter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States. Only about 10 percent of colleges and universities in the nation have Phi Beta Kappa charters.
	2004	President Lyons opens the Degheri Alumni Center, dedicated to former students of the University of San Diego.
	2005	The Plaza de San Diego opens. The School of Education is renamed as the School of Leadership and Education Sciences.
	2007	Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, a state-of-the-art facility built to house the School of Leadership of Education Sciences, opens its doors. The School of Peace Studies, the first in the United States, is established at USD.
	2008	The men's basketball program earns national recognition for its upset win over the University of Connecticut in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
	2009	The Student Life Pavilion is dedicated.
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