Dominican University of California

The history of Dominican University of California can be traced back to 1850. It was in this year that Joseph Sadoc Alemany was appointed Bishop of Monterey. At the time of this appointment, he was in Italy attending a meeting of the Dominican Order, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic de Guzmán in France in 1216.

Bishop Joseph Alemany

As Bishop Alemany was returning to his new post in California, he stopped in Paris at the Dominican Monastery of the Cross and expressed his desire to have a few Dominican Sisters join him to teach the children of the Forty-niners. A Belgian novice, Sister Mary of the Cross Goemaere (1809-1891) volunteered to accompany the new bishop and to begin a school in his new diocese. Within three years, nine women (three American, one Mexican, and five Spanish) joined Sister Mary to form the Congregation of the Most Holy Name. In 1854, the Dominicans moved to Benicia.

Following the leadership of Mother Mary Goemaere, Mother Louis O'Donnell (1887-1929) moved the motherhouse, a school and novitiate from Benicia to San Rafael in 1889.

In 1890 the Congregation of the Most Holy Name, under the auspices of Mother O'Donnell, filed Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of California. With the encouragement of faculty of the University of California in Berkeley, a junior college was opened in 1915, and in 1917 a four-year college, Dominican College, was formed. At that point Dominican College became the first Catholic college in California to grant the bachelor's degree to women. Originally a female-only institution, Dominican College became coeducational in 1971.

• 1917 – Dominican became the first Catholic college in California to grant the bachelor's degree to women.
• 1924 – The State Board of Education certifies Dominican to recommend candidates for public school teaching credentials.
• 1926 – Dominican was placed on the approved list of the Association of American Universities.
• 1931 – Dominican College of San Rafael was recognized by the American Association of University Women and in 1932, the Marin County Chapter of that group was established
• 1931 – Dominican became a member of the Northwestern Association of Colleges.
• 1950 – Dominican opened its graduate program to men.
• 1963 – Archbishop Alemany Library opened.
• 1971 – Dominican became fully coeducational.
• 1984 – Dominican opens the Ukiah Center, in Mendocino County, creating a satellite campus offering Teacher Credential Programs and MS in Education Programs
• 1990 – Dominican's Nursing program received accreditation from the National League of Nursing.
• 2000 – Dominican College of San Rafael becomes Dominican University of California
• 2006 – Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance program initiated
• 2007 – Dominican opens a new Science Center
• 2009 – Dominican's School of Business and Leadership was accepted into the Association of Asia Pacific Business Schools
• 2010 – Dominican opened a federally funded national research facility focused on Sudden Oak Death
• 2012 – Dominican received an $8 million-plus gift to update Meadowlands Hall
• 2014 - The university's School of Business and Leadership is renamed the Andrew P. Barowsky School of Business
• 2014 - Began publishing master's theses and faculty scholarship online in Dominican Scholar
• 2014 - The Dominican Experience commenced
• 2016 - Working as a voter education partner for the Commission on Presidential Debates, Dominican hosts College Debate 2016.
• 2018 - Dominican partners with Make School, enabling Dominican to offer a Minor in Computer Science and Make School to offer an accelerated bachelor's degree in Applied Computer Science under Dominican's oversight.
• 2019 - Dominican introduced a Test-Optional Policy, beginning with students applying for admission in the Fall 2020 cohort.

Almost 90% of freshmen live on-campus. Freshmen are automatically guaranteed a residency on campus while sophomores, juniors and seniors receive on-campus housing through a lottery. All residence halls are co-ed with gender specific bathrooms. Each hall has a "resident advisor" who oversees the students.

In the 1980s, an alumna remembered that she had her picture taken when she was a student at the college in the 1950s. She went in search of the print. While she didn't find her photograph, nearly 100 original Ansel Adams photographs were discovered scattered across campus. These photographs, taken by the not-yet-famous Adams between 1932 and 1952, are part of the Dominican private collection.

Enameled terra-cotta sculptures grace the entryways to Meadowlands Hall, Guzman Hall, Archbishop Alemany Library and Caleruega Hall. These terra-cotta sculptures have been made for centuries by the Della Robia family, a famous Florentine family of sculptors and ceramicists which started with Luca della Robbia.

Forest Meadows Amphitheater

Forest Meadows Amphitheater is an amphitheater on Dominican's Campus. While it used to hold the University's Commencement ceremonies, the amphitheater is now used by the Marin Shakespeare Company during the Shakespeare Festival in the fall. The company has been using the amphitheater since 1967.

In 2018, Dominican University of California and San Francisco-based Make School submitted an application to the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) to enter an incubation relationship. The partnership enabled Dominican to offer a minor in Computer Science and Make School to offer an accelerated bachelor's degree in Applied Computer Science under Dominican's oversight.

The University is organized into three schools with the following departments:

School of Liberal Arts and Education

• Art, Art History, Media and Design
• Education Studies
• Literature, Language and Humanities
• Music, Dance and Performing Arts
• Psychology
• Public Affairs

Barowsky School of Business

• Business

School of Health and Natural Sciences

• Counseling Psychology
• Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• Nursing
• Occupational Therapy
• Physician Assistant
• Public Health

• Regional Accreditation: Accreditation Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
• Occupational Therapy: American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.
• Nursing: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), State of California Board of Registered Nursing
• Teacher Education: State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
• Athletics: NCAA Division II

The Associated Students of Dominican University (ASDU) is the student government for Dominican and helps students plan and provide campus activities, distribute activity funds, initiate changes in policy, and represent themselves to the University's administration and the broader community. This group of elected student representatives serves both as the student activities association and the student government board. The members of the ASDU Senate are composed of representatives from all four class levels of regular day program students.

The Dominican Penguins are the athletics teams for Dominican University of California. Since 2005, the Penguins have competed in the NCAA Division II, Pacific West Conference. The university currently fields 11 teams: Men's Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, and Soccer; Women's Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball. Dominican also supports Men's Lacrosse, which competes in MCLA Division I.[1]

Shield Ceremony at Dominican University of California

Each fall, the university holds a Shield Ceremony, a tradition that started in the 12th century when Saint Dominic Guzman created the Dominican order. It now continues every fall during Convocation, when the Dominican seniors officially greet the incoming freshmen with a special gift: an illustration of a shield that reflects an inspirational motto. The motto, written by the seniors, is intended to help guide the freshmen throughout their college years and beyond. Four years later at Commencement, a hand-crafted wood carving of the illustrated shield is presented to the graduating class. All of Dominican's shields, dating back to the early 1920s, are displayed on campus in the Meadowlands Residence Hall, Guzman Lecture Hall and the Shield Room.

Once a year, Dominican invites all students and their families for a three-day celebration of the University and its students. It opens on Friday night with Convocation, a celebration of the academic achievements of Dominican students. Throughout the weekend, all are invited to explore the campus, attend special classes, meet with the President and faculty and cheer on the Dominican Penguins at competitive games. Family Weekend concludes on Sunday with an athletic scrimmage and tailgate party.

Most academic departments at Dominican require a senior thesis/project, a one-year culminating experience that offers evidence of accomplishment in a discipline or area of inquiry. Like a master's thesis, the senior thesis gives students an opportunity as undergraduates, to explore in- depth issues that interest them. The major determines the nature of the thesis/project, which can take many forms: a research document, a novel, a business plan, a portfolio of poetry, or original works of art.

Held the day prior to Commencement, Baccalaureate Mass is a unique tradition that reflects Dominican's Catholic heritage. The Mass, planned and led by members of the graduating classes, is held at St. Raphael's Church in downtown San Rafael. Students and their families, faculty, staff and friends of the University are invited to attend.

On the eve of Commencement, Dominican honors the academic achievement of graduating students with The Hood Ceremony. Each graduating senior and graduate student receives a hood, which is a colorful, historic symbol of scholastic excellence. This ceremony is a time-honored tradition in which the students and faculty wear their academic regalia. Conferral of the hood symbolizes that students have joined the community of educated people.

On a Saturday morning in May, the campus community joins graduating students, their families and friends for Commencement. The Dominican tradition includes a procession led by a bagpiper.

There are more than forty student clubs and organizations at Dominican with categories including Athletics, Campus Diversity, Religious, Social and Major-Related.