Holy Names University history

The Convent school census: 21 Sisters, 2 novices, 2 postulants, 80 boarders (becoming 100 boarders by 1878)

By 1880, the school, staffed by the Sisters and known as the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, had flourished to the point where the State of California empowered it to grant higher degrees.

By 1908 the convent began to offer classes at a post-secondary level and was renamed the College of the Holy Names.

In 1911, the University of California first accredited the school whose curriculum prepared students to attend the University.

Holy Names Central High School opened its doors at the current site on Harbord Drive in the fall of 1931 and combined the four high schools in Oakland then staffed by the Holy Names Sisters.

Soon afterward in 1957, the original site was purchased by Henry J. Kaiser where he constructed the Kaiser Building, and the school moved to its present location in the Oakland Hills.

The Associated Collegiate Press award “First Honors” to the 1959 Excalibur yearbook.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges and Western Catholic Education Association first accredited Holy Names in 1961.

In 1971, Holy Names became coeducational at the undergraduate level and was renamed Holy Names College.

The school took its present name on May 10, 2004 and became known as the "newest Catholic university in California."