- Mount St. Mary's College
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For other uses, see Mount St. Mary's (disambiguation).
Mount St. Mary's College 
Seal of Mount St. Mary's CollegeMotto Deus Illuminatio Mea Motto in English God, My Light Established 1925 Type Private Religious affiliation Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (Roman Catholic) Endowment $65.4 million[1] President Jacqueline Doud Provost Eleanor Siebert Academic staff 327[2] Admin. staff 283[2] Students 2,480[3] Undergraduates 1,980[3] Postgraduates 500[3] Location Los Angeles, California, United States Campus two urban campuses
Chalon (Brentwood):
56 acres (23 ha)
Doheny (Downtown):
20 acres (8.1 ha)Colors Purple and gold Nickname Athenians Mascot Athena Website www.msmc.la.edu 
Mount St. Mary's College is a private, independent, Catholic liberal arts college, primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. The college was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, and today has two campuses, which are just over 16 miles (26 km) apart: Chalon in Brentwood and Doheny in North University Park, near Downtown Los Angeles.
Nearly sixty percent of the entering freshman class are first generation college students. Three quarters of the student body is made up of visible minority students, while women make up nearly 95% of first-year undergraduate students.
According to the 2007 U.S. News & World Report listing of America’s Best Colleges, Mount St. Mary’s College is one of the highest ranked master's-granting universities in the Western United States, placing among the top twenty schools evaluated, out of 574 colleges and universities nationally.
Contents
History
Chalon Campus
Mary Chapel, built in 1939, at the college's Brentwood campus.
The college first held its classes at St. Mary's Academy, then located at West Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. In 1928, the Sisters purchased 36 acres (15 ha) of land along the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains from the Rodeo Land and Water Company for $162,000. In 1947, an additional 20 acres (8.1 ha) was acquired to complete what is today the college's Chalon campus. The campus contains a blend of architecture familiar to Los Angeles, largely in the tradition of the Spanish Colonial Revival and Mission Revival styles. The unique location of the Brentwood campus, on a 1,100-foot (340 m) ridge, provides an overlook to both the Getty Center and 40 miles (60 km) of the Pacific Ocean.
Being the college's first campus, Chalon has been home to a number of important events in the history of the college. In 1929, the College's first graduation was held on the Chalon campus. In 1952, the college granted its first baccalaureate degrees in nursing, also the first in Southern California. In 1955, the College began offering graduate degree programs.
Today, Chalon is home to the college's traditional baccalaureate programs.
Doheny Campus
The Doheny Mansion, the center of the college's Downtown campus.The college grew to two campuses in 1962 when it was given 20 acres (8.1 ha), holding two city blocks of Queen Anne-style Victorian mansions, in Los Angeles next to the University of Southern California. The tranquil property was formerly owned by Edward L. Doheny and his wife, the Countess Estelle Doheny, who made their fortune in oil. The Chester Place residences were built at the turn of the century by Judge Charles Silent. The college named the campus after the Countess Doheny and her husband. Due to the Countess' desire for privacy, the Dohenys purchased all the adjacent houses and made it into a private street. The University Park campus is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city.
The Doheny campus first played host to the college's Associate in Arts program when it opened in 1962. Forty years later, in 2002, the college began its first doctoral degree, in physical therapy, which joined the other graduate programs now offered at the Doheny campus.
In 1992, the college launched its Weekend College program at the Chalon campus, which primarily focuses on providing working professionals the opportunity to complete their undergraduate degrees within four years by attending classes scheduled on weekends. The Weekend College program moved to the Doheny campus in 2006, joining a number of courses for the associate and graduate programs offered at Doheny on weekday evenings and on weekends, furthering the idea of accessibility introduced by Weekend College.
Doheny is home to the college's associate, daytime and evening graduate programs, Weekend College (undergraduate and graduate), and educational credential programs.
Identity
The J. Thomas McCarthy Library, part of the Coughlin Learning Complex, built in 1996 at the Doheny campus.The college's seal, a circular shield, was designed by Baker's Heraldic office in London. It has four divisions, each representing the college's founding. An open book at the base of the shield holds the college motto, Deus Illuminatio Mea, or God My Light. At the highest point of the shield, a lily surrounded by thorns represents the Immaculate Conception by Mary. The fleur-de-lis of France on the right symbolizes the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, established at Le Put, France, in 1650. On the left, three angel wings with the rose signify the City of Los Angeles.
Particular care is necessary in distinguishing the college's name from that of other institutions with some variant of Mount St. Mary in their name. Usage of the abbreviated form of Mount or the complete form of St. is discouraged, and the possessive form Mary's (with an apostrophe) is required.
In the media
Due to its isolated location and beautiful vistas and architecture, a number of movies and television shows have filmed on either the Doheny or Chalon campus of the college. The list includes, but is not limited to:
- 90210
- Alex and Emma
- Beverly Hills, 90210
- Death Becomes Her
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
- Flowers in the Attic
- Gilmore Girls
- Less Than Zero
- Monk
- Shark
- Spanglish
- Spider-Man 3
- The Closer
- The O.C. (Harbor School)[4]
- The Princess Diaries
- The Unit
References
- ^ As of June 30, 2009. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2009 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2008 to FY 2009" (PDF). 2009 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ^ a b "Faculty Profile for Fall 2006". http://www.msmc.la.edu/Include/Institutional%20Research/Faculty%20Proflie_Fall%2006.pdf.
- ^ a b c "Student profile". http://www.msmc.la.edu/pages/402.asp.
- ^ The O.C. Filming Locations
External links
- Mount St. Mary's College official website
- Mount St. Mary's College alumnae community
- Independent California Colleges and Universities profile
Current women's universities and colleges in the United States Agnes Scott • Alverno • Assumption • Barnard • Bay Path • Bennett • Brenau • Bryn Mawr • Cedar Crest • Chatham • Columbia • Converse • Cottey • Georgian Court • Hollins • Judson • Lexington • Mary Baldwin • Meredith • Midway • Mills • Moore • Mount Holyoke • Mt. Mary • Mt. St. Mary's • New Rochelle • Notre Dame • Peace • Pine Manor • Russell Sage • St. Benedict • St. Catherine • St. Elizabeth • St. Joseph • St. Mary-of-the-Woods • St. Mary • St. Mary's • Salem • Scripps • Simmons • Smith • Spelman • Stephens • Stern • Sweet Briar • Trinity • Ursuline • Wellesley • Wesleyan • Wilson • Women's College of the University of DenverCategories:- Mount St. Mary's College
- Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph
- Women's universities and colleges in the United States
- Roman Catholic universities and colleges in the United States
- Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California
- Independent Colleges of Southern California
- Council of Independent Colleges
- National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities members
- Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Educational institutions established in 1925
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