Santa Clara builds character
By MARISA OLIVER
The Templeton Guide named Santa Clara University a leader in character development among students and the Center for Student Leadership as an outstanding program within the university.Four-hundred and five universities in the United States were polled and ranked in 10 exemplary programs ranging from academic honesty to spiritual growth. Santa Clara was one of 40 schools recognized in the area of student leadership and character development. Santa Clara has also been ranked second among all regional universities in the West by U.S. News and World Report for 10 years running.
"What it means for the university is that we get outside validation saying that we do, in fact, develop the character of our students," University Provost . Steven Privett SJ, said. "So in the course of rigorous academic programs students also develop as human beings, which is what Santa Clara is interested in."
The guide centered its recognition on the Center for Student Leadership for providing high-quality educational experiences and giving students the opportunity to develop competency, conscience and compassion.
The Center for Student Leadership prepares students for their roles beyond Santa Clara, offering courses focusing on conflict resolution, building communities and mentoring."The overall ethos of the university supports humanistic education, and I think that our faculty are sensitive to that concern," Privett said. "So that we don't just teach people a body of knowledge and a set of skills, we try to put that in the context of a humane way of being in the world."
Santa Clara tries to help promote the constant development of students by incorporating learning and living.
"The buildings and five-year plans are all directed towards character development," said Javier Benavidez, Associated Students of Santa Clara University President. "Pat Malley itself is physical-mental health. It's all integrated education, not just academic."
The new residence hall is a good example of integrated education. The complex will house not only students but classrooms, a computer lab and Eastside Project. This is a new trend to blend learning, living and growing.
"Students choose SCU because there is an understanding that you're not just coming here to work and study hard and to get a good job," Benavidez said. "It's more to go out and work with the communities and make a difference."
Programs like Eastside Project and Santa Clarans for Social Justice strive to make students look beyond campus life to the community.
"That's the Jesuit model of social change, just kind of empower people to take on their own leadership," Benavidez said.
Each Santa Clara graduate has had the opportunity to learn self-discipline, respect and compassion. It is the Jesuit tradition that makes Santa Clara not just another school, but a home where the values first instilled by family are nurtured and reinforced.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of a true education." Santa Clara is determined to make that education part of Santa Clara's core curriculum."I don't think it's this course or that course, it's everything when you put it all together," Privett said.