Nestled in the hills outside of San Francisco sits a small college ripe with fresh ideas, a rich history and a big sense of community.
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BYU will be joining St. Mary’s in the West Coast Conference starting in July. With the slogan “Enter to learn, leave to serve,” the atmosphere and goals of St. Mary’s are similar to BYU’s slogan, “Enter to learn, go forth to serve.” Even with a major size difference and different ways of life, there is a lot of common ground that the two schools will have to play on.
With only 2,621 students, there is togetherness within the college.
“There’s definitely a sense of community,” said Michael Beseda, the vice provost of enrollment. “So unlike a school that sits in the middle of a city or is huge, people come here looking for a really challenging academic environment but also that sense of community.”
Because St. Mary’s has a small enrollment, the class sizes allow for much discussion and involvement from the students.
One example of this is the Integral Program that exists within the college. Beginning freshman year, students meet in small groups for seminars where they discuss literature and theories around a round table.
“Every student comes to St. Mary’s and their freshman year they are discussing Aristotle and Plato,” Beseda said. “But rather than having a professor come and lecture to them about it, the professor comes to the class and sits down and asks a question and that is the starting point of a conversation between the students.”
Like BYU, St. Mary’s has a religious history. The school defines itself as a Lasallian college, following in the ways of Saint John Baptist De La Salle, the patron saint of teachers, according to an education pamphlet sent out by the college. Since the founding of St. Mary’s, it has been directed by the Christian Brothers, who own and operate the school. Some of the brothers are also professors on the campus and live in the residence halls with students.
“Social justice and service is emphasized here,” said Michael Montafi, a politics major and vice president for student affairs with the Associated Students of Saint Mary’s College, the student government organization at the College. “We do have some biblical literary courses which approach religion from a very academic standpoint, but besides that the school is very open. Where the religious aspect manifests itself is really seen in the service.”
Esteban Salinas, the vice president of administration for ASSMC, studying the integral major, feels the religious aspect of the school is more of a moral code than anything.
“For the most part, the way we view religion, it is a moral code that we live by,” Salinas said. “We may not all necessarily agree on who the final prophet is, but the same moral codes and standing that we have for one individual, respecting one another, is always the same.”
Beginning July 1, BYU will join St. Mary’s in the WCC and will thus be competing against them in several different sports.
Paul Thomas, head coach for women’s basketball at St. Mary’s, had a positive response to BYU joining the conference.
“Bringing BYU in is extremely important in our league and the growth and development and I think it’s good all the way around,” Thomas said. “I think our profile just got improved.”
Salinas admitted that BYU joining will bring more competition, but it is a good sort of competition.
“You guys joining is going to make things more difficult, but at the very least it makes our conference more competitive,” he said. “The conference is all about making yourself stronger and bringing in quality colleges and competing in a friendly fashion.”
Along with the competitive spirit, students at St. Mary’s are excited to have a university joining the conference that upholds values they also find important.
“I’m so excited to bring you guys into the WCC,” said Freddie Silveria, president of the Associated Students Executive Council. “You stick by what you believe in, that’s great. It really speaks highly of your college.”
