1868
Foundation of Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Lake Merritt Campus, Oakland, California
1868
An album containing portraits of the first boarders of the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, including Miss Maria Byrne, left, the first student named on a list of enrollees
1876
The Convent school census: 21 Sisters, 2 novices, 2 postulants, 80 boarders (becoming 100 boarders by 1878)
1880
Empowered by the State of California to grant higher degrees
1886
While rowing in August with the Sisters, student Edith Clark dives into Lake Chabot to rescue a drowning classmate who had fallen overboard. Clark’s heroism earns her the U.S. Treasury Department Silver Life-saving Medal
1890
The Convent school “fleet” consists of three rowboats: Marie Rose, Dove, and Aloysius
1901
Sister Mary Seraphine, known for her beautiful voice, trains students to sing “America” and “Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue” for the expected passage of President William McKinley down Webster Street just outside the school grounds
1906
The “great” San Francisco earthquake throws statues and windows to the floor, opens a hole in the roof, and damages rooms. The chapel “suffered severely”
1908
Name of the institution changes to Convent and College of the Holy Names
1910
Secular students admitted to college-level classes for the first time, and the Alumnae Office opens with its new constitution decreeing that the annual meeting should coincide with Founders’ Day (May 10)
1913
A visiting Jesuit lectures on the “new” discipline of psychology
1917
Holy Names Junior College formally inaugurated; first secular students admitted
1918
Students cheer the end of World War I
1921
The College adds a third year to the curriculum (for nursing students)
1925
The senior college opens
1926
First four-year bachelor of arts degree awarded to Mildred Agnes Smith of Portland, Oregon; HNU’s education program is founded
1929
First baccalaureate degrees awarded
1929
Associated Students publish the first yearbook; classes in the late 1940s will dub it Excalibur
1930
The first College of the Holy Names’ teacher candidates are credentialed by the state of California
1932
First issue of College of the Holy Names Bulletin, predecessor to HNU Today, is published by students to keep Alumnae Association members “alumnae-minded.” The editors wrote: “It is to be hoped that interesting items will be contributed occasionally by those of the long ago, as well as by students of the nearer past.”
1935
The seal of the college — with its motto virtus, honor, nobilitas — is in use
1935
The college newspaper, the Merritt Mirror, is first published
1941
A class off 66 individuals graduates, including 34 lay and 32 religious
1941-1945
During World War II, Homecoming raffle prize winners often receive a war bond
1943
Graduate study begins at the College of the Holy Names when courses are offered for the credential in secondary education
1949
College of the Holy Names becomes one of the charter members of the the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
1955
The co-educational graduate division formally established
1956
Groundbreaking is held Feb. 7 for a new campus in the Oakland hills. Sister Imelda Marie, president for the College, turned the first shovel of soil
1957
Bidding farewell to the original Lake Merritt site, campus moves to a new permanent home on Mountain Boulevard
1957
By April, artist Louisa Jenkins of Big Sur, solicited by Sister Mary Luke and assisted by art students, completes the Sophia mural on the southeast wall of Brennan Hall
1958
Fall semester begins on the new campus
1958
Under the headline “Campus Living in Modern Style,” a local newspaper trumpets the opening of Durocher Hall in September, noting that it will accommodate 159 students
1958
“Energy, zest, and brilliance” is how SF Chronicle’s art critic referred to California mission paintings by Sr. Mary Luke that now line the Founders’ Hall corridor
1959
The Associated Collegiate Press award “First Honors” to the 1959 Excalibur yearbook. The cover design by Editor Carol Hubert ’59 earns honors as a Cover of the Month
1960
Raskob Learning Institute opens
1961
Peter Grothe, special consultant to the Peace Corps credited with drafting the original name and legislation for its creation, presents “a first-hand report on this new aspect of American foreign policy” to the campus
1961
Actor Raymond Burr serves as host for an annual scholarship fundraising barbecue held on campus
1963
Margaret Mealey ’33, executive director of the National Council of Catholic Women, receives one of 18 pens President John F. Kennedy uses to sign The Equal Pay Act that made it illegal to pay men and women working in the same place different salaries for similar work
1965
Organizers of the annual CoHoNa — short for College of the Holy Names — Ball choose the theme “Royalty and Red Velvet” and extend an invitation to Princess Margaret of England and her husband, Lord Snowden, who “regretfully declined”
1968
Campus activists establish THRUST to bring college resources, including literacy expertise, to the community
1968
Singer Jack Jones and Count Basie and His Orchestra headline a March 24 Benefit Performance organized by the college and held at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum
1969
The Kodály music education program opens
1971
The College name changes to Holy Names College and becomes fully co-educational
1972
Painted scenes from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales—then valued at over $25,000—that once graced the lobby of San Francisco’s Canterbury Hotel are donated to the University and displayed in Brennan Hall (today they hang in the Valley Center for the Performing Arts)
1975
As part of a popular HNU speakers series, pioneering hospice psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, author of On Death and Dying, speaks on campus (Photo: Ken Ross)
1977
An interdisciplinary, team-taught program in Humanistic Studies becomes the cornerstone of the undergraduate curriculum
1981
The Weekend College (WECO) opens, offering working adults classes on Friday nights and Saturdays – the first such program west of the Rockies for working adults
1982
Carol Corrigan ’70 appointed to President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on Organized Crime (she was then deputy DA for Alameda County)
1987
Then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein speaks on campus for HNU’s Eighth Annual Symposium for Business Leaders
1987
The writing across the curriculum program is adopted to ensure that development in writing is a component of all undergraduate programs
1989
College faculty ranked No. 1 in the West by U.S. News and World Report
1994
Valley Center for the Performing Arts opens, providing the campus and community with a state-of-the-art facility
1994
HNU joins the National College Athletic Association and is a founding member of what is now the California Pacific Conference (CAL PAC)
1994
HNU students make first annual visits to: Tutwiler, Mississippi, to build homes with Habitat for Humanity; and to Fort Benning, Georgia, joining protesters who demand the closing of the School of Americas, where Latin American government soldiers train
1996
A 12-by-12 portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt goes on display in the VCPA for World AIDS Day
1997
The Sophia Center graduate program in Culture and Creation Spirituality begins
1997
Master of Science in Nursing program begins
2000
Accelerated business degree program, Excel, is introduced
2004
The name of the institution is changed to Holy Names University
2005
Following Hurricane Katrina in August, HNU welcomes 25 students displaced from their home institutions in New Orleans; eight choose to remain at HNU
2007
HNU celebrates its 50th anniversary in the Oakland Hills
2008
HNU celebrates its 140th anniversary in Oakland
2009
Brennan Hall transformed into a 15,800 square f00t, full-service Student Center
2012
HNU’s application to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Division II is accepted
2012
Newscaster Gwen Ifill, of Washington Week and PBS News Hour and the first African-American woman to host a prominent political talk show, delivers the Commencement address
2012
HNU introduces the Early Admit Program guaranteeing admission to 9th graders from Oakland and West Contra Costa school districts
2012
By the University’s final year as a California Pacific Conference member, 54 HNU Athletics teams had claimed championships and seven had earned Conference All-Sports Awards
2013
U.S. News and World Report recognizes HNU as the most diverse university in the nation for 2012-13
2014
Author and Olympic sprinter John Carlos, renowned for raising a fist on the medal stand in 1968 in Mexico City, spoke on campus about his book The Sports Moment that Changed the World
2016
Holy Names University Athletics is accepted for full membership in the NCAA Division II
2018
Holy Names University celebrates its 150th anniversary in Oakland
2018
Prompted by a growing teacher shortage, HNU offers 50 percent tuition reductions to new students planning to teach in public schools, thanks to generous funding from the estate of R. H. “Rock” and Jane Gilmore Logan
2018
For a third consecutive year, an HNU Athletics team makes an NCAA Division II postseason appearance—men’s golf in 2018 and 2017 and men’s cross country in 2016
2018
Pitcher Aiden McIntyre ‘18 makes Hawks history as the first HNU student-athlete drafted by Major League Baseball
