Notre Dame de Namur University

Notre Dame de Namur University
Motto:	Ora et Labora
Established	1851
Type:	private
President:	John "Jack" B. Oblak
Students:	1600
Location	Belmont, CA,, USA
Campus:	Suburban (50-acres)
Nickname:	Argonauts
Affiliations:	NCAA D-II; PacWest
Website:	www.ndnu.edu

Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private, Catholic university located in Belmont, California. It is one of two four-year accredited universities in San Mateo County (along with Menlo College), and the fifth-oldest university in California. In addition to offering the traditional undergraduate liberal arts programs, NDNU also offers software engineering and business administration programs capitalizing on its location in the San Francisco Bay Area between Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Its graduate programs includes master's degree and certificate programs in education, psychology, public administration, and business administration, in addition to the liberal arts. In addition to traditional daytime programs, the school offers intensive evening programs for working adults. There are four colleges: Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, Education and Leadership, and Sciences. Enrollment in the university is approximately 1,000 undergraduates and 800 graduate students.

History

NDNU was founded in 1851 as the College of Notre Dame, a women's college, by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in nearby San Jose. Chartered in 1868, NDNU was the first college in California authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees to women. In 1923 the school moved to the estate of former Bank of California president William Ralston, whose house was preserved as Ralston Hall. In 1969, the school became co-educational. In 2001, the school changed its name to Notre Dame de Namur University. The campus is a California Historical Landmark, and the summer home of bank president Ralston is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2005, Philosophy Professor Phil Gasper became the focus of controversy as a result of nominating convicted murderer Stanley Williams for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work at writing children's books and for developing peace treaties between gangs. Critics accused him of not caring about the victims of the crimes and for neglecting the role Williams had in forming the Crips street gang, one of the largest criminal enterprises in the United States today.

Athletics

NDNU's nickname is the Argonauts, often abbreviated as the Argos. The school competes at the NCAA Division II-level in the Pacific West Conference, having recently returned there (it was DII until 1998). Previously it competed at the NAIA-level in the California Pacific Conference.

External links

• Official website