[5] The university's campus surrounds the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís which traces its founding to 1777.

Santa Clara's student athletes include current or former 58 MLB,[7] 40 NFL,[8] and 12 NBA players and 13 Olympic gold medalists.

Fray Tomás de la Peña chose a site along the Guadalupe River for the future church, erecting a cross and celebrating the first Mass a few days later.

[10] The campus was built on the land of the Ohlone people[11] who relocated after suffering a decline in population due to epidemics and a loss of natural resources in the area.

[12] Natural disasters forced early priests to relocate and rebuild the church on several occasions, moving it westward and away from the river.

Beginning in the 1830s, however, the mission lands were repossessed in conjunction with government policy implemented via the Mexico's secularization, and church buildings fell into disrepair.

The Bishop of Monterey, Dominican Joseph Sadoc Alemany, offered the site to Italian Jesuits John Nobili and Michael Accolti in 1851 on condition that they found a college for California's growing Catholic population when it became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War (1846–48).

[13] Two colleges were organized during 1851 in the small agricultural town of Santa Clara, at the height of the Gold Rush, less than a year after California was granted statehood.

In the 1950s, after the university constructed Walsh Hall and the de Saisset Museum on two of the last remaining open spaces on the old college campus, Santa Clara began purchasing and annexing land from the surrounding community.

Santa Clara carried out all deferred maintenance, including the renovation of Kenna Hall, the Adobe Lodge, and many other historic buildings.

One unique feature of Santa Clara University's undergraduate education is the Residential Learning Community program.

Eight Residential Learning Communities (RLCs), each with a distinct theme, integrate the classroom and resident life experience.

[25] In 2014, Santa Clara University received the STARS Gold Rating by Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

[27] Santa Clara University is a member of The Green Building Council, the overseeing body of the LEED rating system.

In addition, Schott Admission and Enrollment Services, Donohoe Alumni House, and Graham Residence Hall have all been designed to LEED gold standards and are pending certification.

Built around historic Mission Santa Clara, the present university is home to a population of approximately 5,435 undergraduate and 3,335 master's, Juris Doctor, and PhD students.

[29] The institution employs 522 full-time faculty members, who are divided between four professional schools and the College of Arts and Sciences, all of which are located on the 106-acre (43 ha) mission campus.

JST is one of two Jesuit seminaries in the United States with ecclesiastical faculties approved by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.

[33] About 42 Jesuit priests and brothers are active teachers and administrators in various departments and centers located on the main campus in Santa Clara.

[35] On March 18, 2021, Santa Clara University Board of Trustees Chairman John M. Sobrato announced Kevin F. O'Brien had been placed on leave pending an inquiry into "exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries".

[36] On May 12, 2021, John M. Sobrato announced to students and faculty that Kevin F. O'Brien resigned May 9, 2021 at the conclusion of this inquiry, coinciding with his enrollment in a therapeutic outpatient program to address "related personal issues, including alcohol and stress counseling".

Over the next century, the school added Master's and doctoral programs designed to meet Silicon Valley's growing need for expert engineers.

Today, the Valley provides opportunities for the school's students and faculty, particularly those in electrical engineering and information technology, to work closely with high-tech companies and government institutions.

[43] SCU maintains its Catholic and Jesuit affiliation and supports numerous initiatives intended to further its religious mission.

Similar green funds at other college campuses have netted projects like installing motion-sense lights in classrooms or information campaigns to encourage the use of re-usable water bottles.

The Santa Clara US Army ROTC Battalion was established in 1861 due to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

On September 10, 1863, Leland Stanford, then Governor of California, presented the Corps of Cadets with forty Springfield rifles, Model 1839.

[72] Paul Locatelli, (former) president of Santa Clara, was a cadet at the university prior to his military service and his entrance into the Jesuit Order.

The award, named after late General Douglas MacArthur, is granted to the year's most excellent Reserve Officers' Training Corps program among 33 battalions in the West Coast eighth Brigade.

The award takes into consideration factors such as the battalion's physical fitness, navigation skills, leadership, and success in commissioning officers after ROTC.