President Details Development

Engh praises community response to stabbing incident

Nicolas SonnenburgTHE SANTA CLARAFebruary 26, 2015 

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] full Mayer Theatre listened at Santa Clara’s annual State of the University event which touted accomplishments from individuals and outlined future plans to expand the campus.

University President Michael Engh, S.J., began on a somber note, asking for a prayer of healing and comfort, and thanking Emergency Medical Services, Community Facilitators, Campus Safety Services, the Office of Student Life and the Emergency Response Task Force for their handling of last week’s on-campus stabbing, in which a Santa Clara student allegedly attacked his roommate.

As for major advancements for the Santa Clara community in the past year, he discussed  alumnus Aven Satre-Maloy, who was recently chosen as a Rhodes Scholar; the staggering 15,000 undergraduate applications sent in this year and new initiatives in collaborative governance.

The rest of the event was centered around talk of future developments at Santa Clara over the next five years.

Dennis Jacobs, provost and vice president for academic affairs, took the podium after Engh and outlined the Santa Clara 2020 Integrated Strategic Plan. Much of this plan involves the construction of new art, law, athletics and residence buildings.

Jacobs also discussed the creation of a new  science, technology, math and engineering center for excellence that will replace the existing law school building.

On top of these building projects, Jacobs announced that the university intends to implement a 3.4 percent tuition increase.

This is coupled with efforts from a capital donation campaign that has successfully gathered $128 million in gifts.

This will help endow $3.2 million in scholarships and will allow for an increase in professors’ salaries, as well as provide the opportunity to create more professorships.

Reflecting on the university’s achievements over the past year and looking forward to the vision of Santa Clara’s future, Associated Student Government President Anaisy Tolentino spoke about high levels of student involvement in activities across campus over the past year.

According to Tolentino, 35 new clubs were formed on campus this past year, and Santa Clara’s Relay for Life team raised $54,000 for cancer research.

Tolentino said she hopes that this trend of increased student involvement continues.

“We are never finished in our efforts to become more,” she said, explaining that continued pushes were needed in addressing issues of sexual assault, diversity and inclusion on campus, as well as larger turnouts at sports and arts events.

“A Bronco has to stand with something,” Tolentino said. “Something that really matters.”

Contact Nicolas Sonnenburg at nsonnenburg@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.