That was the sound of progress on the third floor of Guadalupe Hall as Santa Clara University President Julie Sullivan and the Jesuit School of Theology’s dean, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J., took a sledgehammer to a wall.
The wall damage was modest, but for the Jesuit School of Theology (JST), that hole was a threshold. Standing at this one, Sullivan was clear about what she saw.
“We’re not just celebrating relocation or renovation,” she told the assembled crowd. “We’re celebrating a reimagination of our two communities as we come together.”
This ceremonial groundbreaking was the first visible step in JST’s move from Berkeley to Santa Clara’s main Silicon Valley campus. It’s a move aligned with the University’s Impact 2030 goal of becoming the leading Jesuit university in service to the global Church and global society.
Already, Sullivan is excited to see how JST’s physical presence will impact academics and student life, including possible collaboration with Miller Center for Global Impact, the Cunningham Shoquist Center for Applied AI and Human Potential, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and even the forthcoming Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, a collaboration with Sutter Health.
“Imagine the impact on our undergraduate students to have this community as part of their community,” she said. “There’s so much more that we haven’t imagined, so that’s why we will rely on God to help us continue to imagine.”
On paper, this transformation is already coming into focus. Located on the east side of campus, the majority of Guadalupe Hall’s third floor will soon include a chapel, a student lounge, an open kitchen, community and conference spaces, the Dean’s suite, and 20 faculty offices—creating a place designed to feel warm and classic yet modern.
But beyond the physical move, there is a greater spiritual move starting—encompassed by what JST is calling their move: “En Camino to El Camino.” It’s a pun with a purpose. A camino is a pilgrim’s road, and El Camino Real is the road that runs right past Guadalupe Hall.
“This name captures the dynamic energy of experiencing a pilgrimage, or a sacred journey made with hope and intention,” explained Drew Roberts, JST’s senior assistant dean and chief operating officer. “St. Ignatius of Loyola, Santa Clara’s patron saint, refers to the idea of ‘el camino,’ or ‘the way,’ in his spiritual exercises. Like companions en Camino, the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University is on the way.”
And the road ahead is clear.
A clock at JST’s entrance in Berkeley is counting down toward that campus’ last day, June 12, 2027. A memory wall of photos is going up so the years in Berkeley get their due. During Advent, the Santa Clara community will make ornaments to hang on JST’s tree next year in Guadalupe Hall, a little housewarming gift before anyone moves in. And come spring, the community may take its name literally and walk from Berkeley to Santa Clara.
It is a long way, by foot or by calendar, but the tight-knit JST community is traveling it the way pilgrims do: together, with gratitude, and—to quote the school’s Prayer for a Time of Change—ready to “step courageously into this new horizon.”
