The University is on the cusp of major changes driven by a desire to tackle tremendous problems of our age, President Michael Engh, S.J., M.Div. ’82 said in the 2015 State of the University address on Feb. 19. “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough,” he said, quoting Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Some recent big numbers: a record-high undergraduate retention rate of 96.2 percent for first-year students returning as sophomores, and more than 15,000 students applying for 1,250 openings in next fall’s class. Even bigger plans are afoot—including a campus expansion—as part of SCU’s comprehensive campaign and Integrated Strategic Plan. Summing up, Fr. Engh said, SCU’s ambitious plans are a way of challenging the University to “do something great,” and Silicon Valley is “a rare ecosystem of venture capital, creativity, risk, and genius.” Learn more about the speech.

First-Time Grads

Overcoming all odds due to the pandemic, the Class of ’24 finally get to experience the graduation that they have long been waiting for.

Brain Games

The therapeutic potential of AI-powered brain implants is no doubt exciting. But questions abound about the inevitable ethical ramifications of putting new, largely unregulated tech into human beings.

Sociology, Gen Ed, and Breaking the Rules

Fewer students are majoring in social sciences but they’re still one of the most popular areas of study. Santa Clara sociologists explain why.