University of Redlands

The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout California largely provide programs for working adults. Woodbury University has been a subsidiary of University of Redlands since 2024.

History

Founding

While currently a secular institution, the University of Redlands' roots go back to the founding of two other American Baptist institutions, California College in Oakland, and Los Angeles University. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake damaged the finances of California College, a Baptist commission began exploring the liquidation of both institutions to develop a new institution in Southern California. The Reverend Jasper Newton Field, a Baptist pastor at Redlands, persuaded the Redlands Board of Trade to propose a donation of at least $100,000 and for an interdenominational campus on land donated by a K.C. Wells. On June 27, 1907, the Commission voted in favor of the Redlands proposal.

Ground was broken on April 9, 1909, on the hill where the administration building now stands. Nine founding faculty members held their first day of classes in the Redlands Baptist Church on September 30, 1909, with 39 students attending.

On January 27, 1910, the University of Redlands opened its physical doors by occupying the administration building. Bekins Hall and the President's mansion were the only two other buildings completed. Now-university president Field was charged with further securing $200,000 for endowment, but the 1912 United States cold wave, which wiped out half the California citrus crop and severely damaged the local economy, made this impossible.

President Field resigned in 1914. Victor LeRoy Duke, were built. A school of education was added. A developing alumni base also started to support the university. By 1928, the university's endowment was $2.592 million, the fourth largest in the state and among the top ten percent of American universities.

Great Depression

By the beginning of 1932, the effects of the Great Depression started to be felt at the university. Enrollment soared, as there was no work to be found, but student indebtedness also increased exponentially, as well as the amount the university owed banks. Salaries were cut, and employees were laid-off. On March 3, 1933, President Duke died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

The administration of the university's third president, Clarence Howe Thurber,

The passage of the G.I. Bill further opened the doors at Redlands. By special action of Congress, housing units for 50 veterans' families ("Vets' Village") were installed on campus. Of the 219 graduates of June 1949, 126 were veterans, 70 of whom were married.

The 1950s saw other changes. Fraternity houses were established for the first time, and other improvements were made to the university. The first Ph.D. ever granted by the university was received in 1957, by Milton D. Hunnex, in Philosophy.

Compulsory chapel attendance fell to the student militancy of the 1960s and 1970s. The seventh president of the university, Dr. Douglas Moore,

On March 17, 2010, the then-current chancellor and former president Dr. James R. Appleton was appointed for a two-year term.

In August 2012, Dr. Ralph Kuncl became the 11th president of the University of Redlands. As president, he has focused on expanding the internationalization of the university, raising its stature by bringing public intellectuals into campus residence as University Distinguished Fellows, leading a comprehensive campaign, and strengthening the university's financial health.

In February 2019, the university announced an agreement in principle to acquire San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) in a transaction that would preserve the secular nature of the university as a whole, while maintaining the historic religious affiliations of SFTS. The deal closed on July 1, 2019, creating a new U of R graduate school—the Graduate School of Theology—and a U of R campus in the Bay Area that hosts programming from both institutions.

In December 2022, the university announced that it would be acquiring the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. The merger is awaiting approval as of January 2024. Upon completion of the merger, the Presidio Graduate School will become part of the university's School of Business and Society.

In 2025, Redlands became a member of the Colleges That Change Lives.

Woodbury merger

In 2023, Woodbury University announced that they would be exploring a strategic integration into the University of Redlands after Woodbury experienced lower enrollments and income. The two universities announced a merger in January 2024.

Organization

thumb|Naslund Study Lounge in Armacost Library

Students at the university study in one of several schools and centers: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, Conservatory of Music, and Center for Spatial Studies); School of Business (including the School of Continuing Studies); School of Education; and Graduate School of Theology.

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) serves approximately 2,400 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students from 41 states and 28 countries.

The college has 187 full-time faculty members serving more than 50 major areas of study. is an endowed college that began as an experiment in professor-student mentor relationships and a student-initiated, contract-driven education, and operated as an autonomous unit of the university for approximately 10 years. The first class of approximately 30 students graduated in 1972. The structure of the educational system was based on seminars (8–10 students), tutorials (3–8), and independent studies. In 1979, it was integrated into the College of Arts and Sciences as the Johnston Center for Individualized Studies. It operated under that name until the mid-1990s, when it was renamed the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies.

Today, about 200 Redlands students live and learn together in the Johnston complex, which includes two residence halls and five faculty offices. Students design their own majors in consultation with faculty and write contracts for their courses, for which they receive narrative evaluations in lieu of traditional grades.

Conservatory of Music

The University of Redlands Conservatory of Music (formerly the School of Music) was founded along with the university as its School of Fine Arts. It is today an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music, and its requirements for entrance and graduation comply with the standards of this accrediting organization.

Approximately 350 students study music with 13 full-time and 26 adjunct faculty. The School of Music offers Bachelor of Music (BM) degrees in composition, Performance, and Education; Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees in music; and Master of Music (MM) degrees.

Any University student may participate in musical activities through enrollment (usually by audition) in the University Choir, Chapel Singers, Madrigals, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Studio Jazz Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, University Opera, and a variety of chamber music ensembles. Students are invited to register for private, group, or class lessons, available on all instruments and for voice.

In 2022, the School of Music officially became the Conservatory of Music, as part of the School of Performing Arts.

Center for Spatial Studies

The Center for Spatial Studies endeavors to create a spatially infused learning community at the University of Redlands, through faculty-student interaction, research, and community service.

School of Business

Founded in 1976 as the Alfred North Whitehead College for Lifelong Learning, the School of Business began as an experiment in providing educational services to working adults in locations throughout Southern California. It was one of the first successful ventures in quality education through off-site learning. It evolved to become the School of Business in 2001.

The School of Business currently has approximately 700 undergraduate students and close to 800 graduate students (2010), taught by 22 full-time and 46 adjunct professors. Classes are held at the Redlands campus as well as regional campuses in Burbank, Orange County, Rancho Cucamonga/Ontario, Riverside, Temecula, Torrance, and San Diego. Programs are also planned on the university's new campus in Marin County, California.

Degrees granted by the School of Business include: B.S. in management; B.S. in business; MBA (in daytime, evening, and online programs); MBA Concentrations in Location Analytics, Marketing, Global Business, and Financing; M.S. in Organizational Leadership; and M.S. in Information Technology.

School of Continuing Studies

Part of the School of Business, the School of Continuing Studies offers certificate programs, individual courses, workshops, and onsite custom programs offered as open enrollment, with no formal admission or application required of participants.

School of Education

The oldest graduate division within the university, the School of Education was founded in 1924. As of 2006, it serves 516 students in graduate coursework, with 17 full-time professors and 30 adjunct professors.

Geared primarily to the working professional, the School also partners with the College of Arts and Sciences to offer undergraduates a chance to earn their teaching credential. The School offers master's degrees in learning and teaching, curriculum and instruction, clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, educational administration, and higher education, as well a number of credentials: Preliminary Teaching Credential (multiple or single subject), Education Specialist Teaching Credential, Pupil Personnel Services Credential—School Counseling, Preliminary Administrative Services Credential (Tier 1), and Clear Administrative Services Credential (Tier II). In addition, a Doctorate in Leadership for Educational Justice (Ed.D.), the university's only doctoral program, is grounded in theories of social justice and a commitment to ensuring equity for students from all backgrounds.

In 2001, the School of Education partnered with the Lewis Center for Educational Research in Apple Valley, California to offer Preliminary Teaching Credentials onsite and serve Apple Valley and the surrounding high desert communities. In 2008, the University of Redlands School of Education expanded to a second regional campus in Orange County. In 2012, the School began offering programs in Temecula and Rancho Cucamonga. Programs are also planned on the university's new campus in Marin County, California. A member of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), the Graduate School of Theology also provides its students with access to classes and resources from the GTU's member and affiliate institutions.

Academics

The University of Redlands offers traditional undergraduate liberal arts degree programs within the College of Arts and Sciences, The Johnston Center for Integrative Studies offers customized degree programs for undergraduates, based upon a contract system and narrative evaluations.

Athletics

thumb|120px|Redlands athletics monogram

Redlands competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), which operates within NCAA Division III. Redlands was one of the founding members of the SCIAC in 1915 and is one of only two schools to have had continuous membership.

The university competes in 21 sports: ten men's teams and eleven women's teams. The men's teams include: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swim and dive, tennis, track and field, and water polo. The women's teams include: basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swim and dive, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo.

The mission of Bulldog Athletics is to provide student-athletes with an opportunity to compete successfully in an intercollegiate athletic program that is an integral part of their educational experience. About 20 percent of U of R's College of Arts and Sciences undergraduates are student-athletes; including intramural sports (which focus on recreational experiences) more than 50 percent of College of Arts and Sciences undergraduates participate in athletics. The average GPA of student-athletes is 3.2, and 90 percent of student-athletes return for their second year of study at the U of R. In addition to numerous championships, 70 percent of the university's varsity teams have ranked in the top 25 nationally in NCAA Division III and SCIAC since 2009.

Mascot

The Bulldogs are represented by a live bulldog mascot, a tradition dating back to 1918. The bulldogs name began not with a dog, but with a football game; in 1917, after Redlands embarrassed a rival school 20–0, the opposing coach was quoted as saying, "The U of R football team might well be called the bulldogs of the conference for the fight they put into the game."

Community service

The university's Community Service Learning program, which is now more than 25 years old, provides students the opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom in activities from mentoring local youths to building houses in Mexico. Each year, University of Redlands students complete more than 120,000 hours of service. These efforts have been recognized by the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Role.

Campus housing

The university, whose Redlands campus has been consistently honored by Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA School, offers its undergraduate students guaranteed housing during their four years of study and, for the most part, undergraduate students are required live on campus. Exceptions include students who are over the age of 23, living with a parent, or married; sometimes exemptions are also granted to upperclass students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Many residence halls are "living-learning communities," with themes such as "freshmen," "social justice," "substance-free," etc. These themes and configurations change from time to time.

Transportation

On October 24, 2022, the Arrow commuter rail service's Redlands–University station opened on the southwest corner of campus, which provides daily rail connections to/from Los Angeles Union Station via the rest of the Metrolink commuter rail system.

Greek life

The university offers a Greek System, unaffiliated with national Greek organizations, which also contains several houses for residence by the groups' members.

Diversity-based exchanges and organizations

In October 2017, the University of Redlands partnered with Tuskegee University, a private, historically black university in Alabama, enabling student and faculty exchanges between the institutions and opening the door to a variety of other joint programming.

Diversity-based organizations on the University of Redlands campus include:

Rangi Ya Giza (RYG) (founded on May 15, 1992): non-Greek, diversity based brotherhood that seeks to positively affect the campus and community by organizing service projects, raising awareness of local and global issues, and taking action against injustices in our society. Rangi Ya Giza is Swahili for "A Darker Shade" to represent their East African roots. RYG focuses specifically on benefiting organizations in the community such as Boys & Girls Club of Redlands, Emmerton Elementary school, and the Stillman House.
Wadada Wa Rangi Wengi (WRW)
Mascot: The university has a live bulldog who serves as its official mascot. The male pup George now holds the U of R mascot title. Histories are kept of the past and present bulldog mascots on the University of Redlands website.
Commencement: The university holds its annual commencement ceremonies on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday in late April instead of May or June.

Notable alumni

Government and politics

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, former interior minister, brother of king Salman of Saudi Arabia
Pete Aguilar, current congressman. First elected to the 114th United States Congress in 2014, Former Mayor of Redlands, California

upright=0.7|thumb|Congressman Pete Aguilar

David Boies, attorney

thumb|upright=0.7|H.R. Haldeman

Sam Brown, organizer of the Vietnam Moratorium and former state treasurer of Colorado
David Byerman, Chief Executive Officer, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Lisa Cano Burkhead, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada

thumb|upright=0.7|Warren Christopher

Michael Carona, former Sheriff, Orange County, California
Warren Christopher, lawyer, former Secretary of State
Mark D. Fabiani, political strategist
Peter Groff, attorney, president of the Colorado Senate
H. R. Haldeman, Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon
Robert Hertzberg, member of the California State Senate
Les Janka, Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs under President Ronald Reagan; later Vice President at Raytheon
David Floyd Lambertson, former U.S. ambassador to Thailand
Connie Leyva, California State senator
Carl W. McIntosh, president of Idaho State University (1949–1959), California State University, Long Beach (1959–1969), and Montana State University (1970–1977)
Juanita Millender-McDonald, American politician
Greta N. Morris, former United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Judge Pat Morris, Mayor of San Bernardino, California
George Runner, California Board of Equalization, District 2
Ann Shaw (BA 1943), civic leader and social worker
Gaddi H. Vasquez, United States Ambassador to the United Nations organizations in Rome, Italy, former Peace Corps Director and former Orange County, California Supervisor.
Richard Polanco, former California State Senate Majority leader
Michel Moore, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department

Education, academic and nonprofit

Lynne Isbell, primatologist
Michael Fredericson, academic and physician
Katherine Jungjohann, scientist and engineer.
Mary Stone McLendon, Native American educator at Bacone College, as well as a Chickasaw storyteller, musician, performer, and humanitarian.
Martha Olney, economics textbook author and winner of teaching awards at the University of California, Berkeley
Philip Oxhorn, Political Science Department chairman at McGill University and leading scholar of civil society
J. Michael Scott (one year), scientist, environmentalist and author
Beth A. Simmons, academic and notable international relations scholar
Byron Wade, clergyman
W. Richard West, Jr., founding director of Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and current director of Autry Museum of the American West
James Q. Wilson, author and professor at Pepperdine University

News and entertainment

Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum, played Mister Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo, a children's television program
Glen Charles, writer and producer for Cheers
Les Charles, writer and producer for Cheers
Christopher Coppola, film director and producer
David Eick, executive producer of Battlestar Galactica, Bionic Woman and Caprica
David Greenwalt, screenwriter, director and producer
Jessie Kahnweiler, actor, writer, comedian, YouTube personality
David Lee, director, producer and writer
Daniel Petrie Jr., screenwriter
Eric Pierpoint, actor and author
Robert Pierpoint, CBS White House correspondent
John Raitt, singer and actor in musical theater
Thalmus Rasulala, actor
Bjarne Mädel, German sit-com actor, attended for two years but did not attain degree

Music

Gerald Albright, American jazz saxophonist and composer
Angel Blue, operatic soprano
Craig Colclough, operatic bass-baritone
Harl McDonald, composer, conductor, pianist
Gene Pokorny, principal tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jeremy Reynolds and Ben Grubin of the band Hockey
Rick Holmstrom, blues musician and songwriter
Diamante (musician), singer and songwriter

Fiction writing

Gayle Brandeis, author, teacher, activist
Willard R. Espy, author and poet
Cathy Scott, true crime books author
Laurel Rose Willson, later known as Lauren Stratford and Laura Grabowski – discredited author of books about satanic ritual abuse and Holocaust survival
Morgan York, author and former actor

Sports

Jared Hamman, current professional mixed martial arts fighter, formerly competing for the UFC
John Houser, former NFL player
Harvey Hyde, football coach, analyst
Richie Marquez, defender for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer
Janice Metcalf, tennis player
Danny Ragsdale, football player
John Sanchez, football player
Ross Schunk, soccer player
Don Thompson, football player
Jackie Yates Holt, former U.S. Women's Open golfer and intercollegiate champion, held the title of youngest champion until 2001.

Business

Susan Estes, CEO of OpenDoor Securities, a firm primarily trading in United States Treasury securities
Alan Shugart, co-founder of Seagate Technology and Floppy Disk technology pioneer
Jean Stephens, global CEO of RSM International, a multinational network of accountancy firms

Crime

Kristin Rossum, toxicologist convicted of murdering her husband

Notable faculty

Ralph Angel, poet and Edith R. White Distinguished Professor
Victoria Ann Lewis, actor and theatre creator, assistant professor of theatre
Leslie Brody, author and professor of English and creative writing
Lawrence Finsen, professor of philosophy specializing in animal ethics
Christopher Gabbitas, artist-professor of vocal chamber music and former member of the King's Singers
Patricia Geary, author and professor of creative writing
Tyler Nordgren, astronomer and professor of physics
Anthony Suter, composer and professor of music
Arthur Svenson, David Boies Professor of Government and winner of the 2019 Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Political Science Association
Frederick Swann, concert organist and professor of organ

References

External links

Athletics website