Santa Clara University

08/27/2026

Santa Clara University has appointed veteran PBS NewsHour special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro as its inaugural Journalist in Residence, beginning Sept. 1, 2026. The University will also become the new home of the acclaimed Under-Told Stories Project.

Joining the Santa Clara University College of Arts and Sciences Department of Communication, de Sam Lazaro brings four decades of journalism experience, with reporting from more than 70 countries.

At Santa Clara, he will guest lecture in journalism and digital storytelling classes, lead hands-on reporting workshops, collaborate with the Miller Center for Global Impact, and mentor students in the journalism program.

Keep reading to learn more about Fred de Sam Lazaro and his new role: https://go.scu.edu/3SAeZVD

08/24/2026

This Santa Clara University English class is ditching AI for ink, paper, and a 1,000-pound Chandler & Price platen press from 1917.

In the course “Letterpress Composition: Writing with Heavy Metal,” taught by Department Chair Kirstyn Leuner, students step away from digital noise and into a collaborative, tech-free sanctuary. Because these historical presses don't connect to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the campus letterpress studio is a unique space where students slow down, learn traditional craftsmanship, and build deep, real-world connections.

🔗 Read Professor Leuner's full reflection on how Santa Clara is redefining the future of writing in a digital age: https://go.scu.edu/4wJXBvz

📸 Photo courtesy of SCU Letterpress

08/23/2026

That feeling when campus feels like home. 🥹❤️

Good news: less than 30 days until move-in weekend. 👀

08/22/2026

Co-authoring an artificial intelligence research paper with eBay.

Presenting at major tech conferences.

Placing second in an NVIDIA Hackathon.

These are the real-world achievements our students unlock by working side-by-side with world-class faculty like computer science and engineering professor Yuhong Liu.

Instead of teaching solely from a textbook, Professor Liu brings her students directly into her trusted computing lab to help solve critical challenges, from designing transparent AI systems to ensuring autonomous vehicles operate safely alongside humans. Her dedicated mentorship has helped first-year students secure prestigious Clare Boothe Luce Scholar Awards, publish conference papers, and confidently launch their careers in tech.

🔗 Read Professor Liu's full "Five Questions" interview to discover how Santa Clara University connects academic excellence with the common good: https://go.scu.edu/3LvN8CH

08/21/2026

When a torn ACL sidelined Laura Hollison '20 during a dance rehearsal at Santa Clara, she turned a major personal setback into her professional calling. Today, she combines her love of science and dance as an orthopedic physical therapy resident at Kaiser Permanente, following a dream clinical rotation caring for elite performers on Broadway.

During that rotation, Laura worked backstage on MJ the Musical, The Lion King, and Ragtime, helping cast members navigate intense physical schedules.

At Santa Clara, she double-majored in biology and theatre arts with a dance emphasis, minored in public health science, and founded the University's chapter of Delta Epsilon Mu, a co-ed pre-health fraternity. She credits the university with giving her the support and confidence to explore her dual passions.

Read more of Laura’s story: https://go.scu.edu/3SGosuG

📸 Photo courtesy of Getty Images

08/20/2026

At Santa Clara University, our campus is more than a place to learn—it’s an ecosystem intentionally designed to help students become their fullest selves.

In a moving reflection for Santa Clara Magazine, Vice President for Mission and Ministry Matthew Carnes, S.J., explores how our beautiful Mission campus supports the holistic journey of student flourishing.

From the quiet sanctuary of the historic Mission Church and Mission Gardens, where students can find space for reflection and spiritual grounding, to classrooms, labs, and the Learning Commons, which foster collaboration, research, and discovery, each space plays a role in helping students flourish throughout their time here.

Read Fr. Carnes’s full reflection: https://go.scu.edu/4wyWmjU

08/19/2026

Maggie Beidelman '09 came to Santa Clara University and majored in English, focusing on nonfiction writing. Today, she's a Pulitzer Prize winner.

As a senior producer and videographer at the San Francisco Chronicle, Maggie helped tell the story behind "Burned," an investigation into why California wildfire survivors were left underinsured—often by hundreds of thousands of dollars—as they tried to rebuild their homes. The series won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, and the impact reached real families: multiple states opened investigations after it was published.

Now a senior video producer at The New York Times, Maggie traces it all back to the writing and thinking skills she started building as an undergrad. As she puts it, "You'll learn how to write better, how to communicate better, how to be empathetic, how to distill information efficiently—all things that will be useful in any industry."

See how Santa Clara English graduates are shaping the future of media:

Now a Pulitzer Prize winner, video journalist Maggie Beidelman ’09 reflects on her changing industry.

08/17/2026

Santa Clara University has named Ravi Bapna dean of the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. Bapna, a scholar of artificial intelligence and digital transformation, begins Sept. 1.

He comes to Santa Clara from the University of Minnesota, where he co-founded a top-ranked master's program in business analytics and AI and started an institute that applies data science to problems like housing equity. His 2024 book, "Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI," won the Axiom Best Business Book Gold Award for Emerging Technology and AI.

What drew him here was the pairing Santa Clara is known for. "Santa Clara's commitment to combining a tech-forward mindset with a mission-driven focus on human dignity and potential resonated with me immediately," Bapna said.

Santa Clara’s business school holds a strong national reputation. Its professional MBA programs rank among the top 20 in the country and No. 1 in Silicon Valley, and its undergraduate program ranks in the top 15% nationwide, all according to U.S. News & World Report.

Bapna also arrives with good company. His wife, Sofia Bapna, an award-winning scholar whose research examines gender gaps in technology, joins the faculty as well.

Read the full announcement:

An internationally recognized leader in AI, analytics, and digital transformation, Bapna will lead the Leavey School into its next chapter of innovation, global impact, and ethical leadership in Silicon Valley.

08/16/2026

Sunshine, summer, and a little ☀️

Before the Sullivan Aquatic Center became Santa Clara University’s primary aquatic facility, generations of Broncos had another favorite place to cool off.

This outdoor pool served as a summer escape for decades before it was closed and filled in during 2005. Where was it located?

💡Answer: Graham Hall.

Today, SCU students can make a splash at the Sullivan Aquatic Center, which serves as the university’s primary aquatic facility for campus recreation, lap swimming, and water polo.

📸 Photo courtesy of the Santa Clara University Alumni Association.

08/14/2026

When Birgit Koopmann-Holm lost her grandmother, she noticed something she hadn't expected: the sympathy cards she received from friends in America felt different from those she grew up with in Germany. German cards were muted and direct, sitting with the grief. American cards looked for a silver lining.

That personal experience shaped a research agenda. Koopmann-Holm, associate professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, now directs the Culture Impacts Emotion Lab, where she studies how cultural background shapes the way people feel, grieve, and respond with compassion. Her research has found that when people resist negative emotions, they become less attuned to the suffering around them. She is working on interventions to help people sit with discomfort as a first step toward a genuine compassionate response.

Undergraduate students contribute directly to this work. Sofía Sandoval Larco '21 brought a question about her home country of Ecuador to the lab, and that question became a peer-reviewed study in Emotion, one of psychology's leading journals, examining how people in Ecuador and the United States conceptualize compassion differently.

Santa Clara University ranks in the top 25 nationally for undergraduate teaching. Faculty like Koopmann-Holm are a big part of why: "Without my students, I wouldn't be exposed to so many diverse perspectives."

🔗 https://go.scu.edu/4euLwn8