“They were of all ages and nationalities and opposite creeds, but they were Santa Clara boys, and whether native or Eastern, Mexican or South Americans, English, French, or Italians, Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile, they were Santa Clara Boys.”

A.D. Spivalo ’59 [1859], The Redwood, October 1908

As the earliest educational institution in California, Santa Clara University has seen thousands of students walk its halls. Going by the name of Santa Clara College until 1912, the school has been closely linked with the development of California. Some of earliest students have recognizable surnames such as Alviso, Vallejo, and Berryessa. While many have assumed these students were composed of early white Americans, a vast number of scholars were actually Spanish speaking or hailed from Mexico or South America. During the first twenty-five years of the school’s opening, Santa Clara College enrolled 1,650 students with about a quarter of them being of Spanish origin (McKevitt, 39).

“Mexican-Americans, too, were few, notwithstanding their large percentage among the local population and the fact that Santa Clara had in the past exercised a special attraction for students of Hispanic background, beginning with native Californios and Latin Americans in the nineteenth century”

G. McKevitt, The University of Santa Clara: A History, 300.

In order to accommodate for their large Spanish speaking population, many of the faculty members at Santa Clara College were fluent in Spanish. The school had also issued both an English and Spanish version of their yearly bulletin (McKevitt, 39). Yet despite these adjustments to the ethnic makeup of their students, the faculty made it a requirement for new scholars to speak English. According to Fr. McKevitt in The University of Santa Clara: A History 1851-1977, new students were not allowed to speak Spanish after their first month of enrollment at Santa Clara College (40). This decree mirrored early American thinking, which assumed that most Hispanic folks who became Americans through the acquisition of California would eventually learn English and phase out Spanish. In a letter to his brother, former student Jesús María Estudillo exclaimed how proud he was to have not spoken “two words in Spanish” the entire day and was praised by a faculty member for speaking English “with the feeling of an Irishman” (McKevitt, 40). Although Estudillo left this early impression on the history of Santa Clara College, ultimately he was not able to finish his studies because his family could not continue to pay his tuition.

As a POC student attending SCU in the 21st century, I can’t help but be conflicted knowing that these 19th century students were forced to abandon a vital part of their culture even if it is exciting to learn the diverse backgrounds of my academic predecessors. It is also disheartening to learn that Estudillo had to drop out because his family was scammed out of their property in the East Bay. This was unfortunately the story for many other Californio families during this time. Per the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which allowed California to became an American State, Mexican officials wanted Californio families to acquire a share of land in return. However, the newly formed Californian government would pass a land act that made it easy for squatters to claim these territories. Estudillo and many other Hispanic families struggled to protect their homes, which led many to turn to lawyers for legal assistance. But these lawyers had ulterior motives and accrued land by asking to be paid in land claims, eventually gaining most of their client’s territories. Estudillo would not be able to recoup the money needed to attend SCC after his brother-in-law mortgaged the family ranch, and eventually found work in mercantilism. Indeed many Spanish speaking families experienced major tragedies during time, but there has also been a number of early ethnic students that were able to continue their education and leave SCC with multiple achievements.

Looking back at the years 1866-1867, SCC had enrolled 216 students, 49 of them being of Hispanic origin (Prospectus of the Year 1866-1867). Many of these scholars were not just attending the school, but were highly active in extracurricular activities. Napoleon Vallejo, son of General Mariano G. Vallejo (who the city of Vallejo is named after), was an active member of the Sodality of the Immaculate Conception, one of SCC’s religious societies (Prospectus of the Year 1866-1867). Another notable descendent of General Vallejo was his adopted son Enrique Vallejo, who is believed to have been one of the first Native American students to attend SCC (Giacomini, 47).

A noteworthy student during this time was Saturino Ayon, who was originally from Mazatlan, Mexico. In 1866, Ayon was SCC’s sole graduate and received a Master of Arts with high honors (Prospectus of the Year 1866-1867, The Annals of Santa Clara: College and University, 1851-1951, Part 1). Ayon was an exceptionally active student, being in three different extracurricular activities and holding positions in two of them. In both the course catalogs and Annals of SCU, it was clear that Ayon participated in almost anything he could, from giving affirmatives during philosophical debates to playing the piano for the school band. On the day of his own commencement, Ayon would help put on a show of “William Tell,” in which he played Gesler. Ayon’s energy did not go unremembered by the faculty—he would later be invited back to give a commencement speech to the Santa Clara College class of 1885 (The Annals of Santa Clara: College and University, 1851-1951, Part 1).

Today, SCU students are calling for more diversity in both admissions and faculty. While “diversity” at SCU looked a lot different in 1866, I believe there are a couple of important lessons to draw from our institution’s past. One being that Santa Clara has always had students of color, and these students were valued by their peers and mentors. Another lesson being that cultural differences should be celebrated, not erased by an “Americanizing” curriculum (Giacomini, 74). Moving forward it is important for our institution to stay true to its fundamental value of “Community and Diversity” by working with POC students in order to cultivate an inclusive learning environment.

A special thank you to Maureen Fitzsimmons, who took the time to educate me on the Estudillo family and early Californio history.

Header image: Portrait of Students Manuel Torres and Charles Graves from the SCU Digital Collections.

Works Cited

Giacomini, George F., and Gerald McKevitt. Serving the Intellect, Touching the Heart: A Portrait of Santa Clara University, 1851-2000. Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA: 2000.

McKevitt, Gerald. The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA: 1979.

Santa Clara College. Prospectus of the Year 1866-1867. Santa Clara, CA: 1866. Retrieve from https://content.scu.edu/digital/collection/p17268coll9/id/1361/rec/13.

Walsh, Henry L. The Annals of Santa Clara : College and University, 1851-1951. Typescript from Archives & Special Collections. Retrieved from https://content.scu.edu/digital/collection/p17268coll4/search