Saint Mary's College of California

We’re excited to see that Saint Mary’s earns a spot in the 2025 edition of the Princeton Review guide “The Best 390 Colleges.” Even better is what SMC students have to say about what makes Saint Mary’s special—including “amazing relationships with professors thanks to the small classroom sizes” and faculty “make sure that you know everything that you need to prepare you for life.”

What else? a real sense of community, staff who are there every step of the way, “great career services,” fabulous weather to explore the Bay Area year-round, and lots more. Oh—and when it comes to sports, “Everyone loves the Gaels.”

Read more: bit.ly/4cJN0qs

Happy First Day of School, Gaels. We cannot wait to see what this school year has in store!👏

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Highlights from an unforgettable day for both families and students. Welcome to the Saint Mary's community! ❤️

The week we've been waiting for is finally here! We're excited to kick off the Weekend of Welcome this Thursday! ✨For a full schedule and more information, learn more here: bit.ly/3AG5jj1

Let’s be honest: finding a job right out of college can be intimidating. That’s why we recently checked in with four Gaels from the Class of 2024 about their career journeys. After graduating in May, they’re going on to work in fields like marketing and education and join companies like Wells Fargo and BlackRock.

Their advice? Take advantage of all the resources that Saint Mary’s offers, like job fairs, professor office hours, and the Career Center. And remember, as Joseph Miyash*ta ‘24 told us, “There’s no right or wrong direction… Pursue what you need or want and trust that at the end of it all, these decisions are stepping stones, not final destinations.”

Read more advice and encouragement from these Gael grads at the link our bio!

Homecoming is back! See you back at Saint Mary's on Saturday, October 5th! ❤️💙

All alumni are invited to return to Moraga on to celebrate our shared traditions and proud history at the place that always feels like home! Expect a full campus with plenty of events for Gaels of all ages, including a soccer doubleheader in Saint Mary's Stadium.

And we're proud to partner with University Credit Union as the presenting sponsor for this year's Homecoming festivities!

Full schedule to be announced soon and we look forward to seeing you this fall!

250 choirs, 11,000 participants, and over 40 countries and regions were represented. When people call the World Choir Games “the Olympics of choral singing,” they’re not kidding!
Saint Mary’s Chambers Singers were among nine other American ensembles who earned gold for their performance at this year's Choir Games in Auckland, New Zealand. That brought the United States' total gold medal count to 17; only China, with 33, earned more.
Of course, for the Chamber Singers, the real prize was the performance, director Julie Ford says. "Before we even knew the results, they were ecstatic because they knew they did their very best…As sweet as it was also to earn a gold medal, it came as a beautiful external affirmation of what they already felt was a team triumph."

We’re proud of you, Gaels! Read more about the music and memories made at the 2024 World Choir Games here: bit.ly/46Dj26l

Here's your deep dive read of the day: with Grant Rozeboom into Business Ethics and "Working as Equals." Rozeboom is the TransAmerica Professor and Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in the School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA) at SMC. He brought together scholars from around the world for a workshop and volume of essays looking at the importance of treating one another as moral equals in the workplace. That matters for sustaining democracy, too.

There are powerful lessons here for business—and society at large—especially when it comes to doing more than talking the talk of all people being created equal.

Meet Alex Chester-Iwata ‘21: From child model to teen pop artist to Broadway actor, she’s certainly had her share of the spotlight. Now, as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Mixed Asian Media (), she’s showcasing the experiences of mixed Asian and Pacific Islander individuals like herself.

Meet Alex Chester-Iwata ‘21: From child model to teen pop artist to Broadway actor, she’s certainly had her share of the spotlight. Now, as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Mixed Asian Media, she’s showcasing the experiences of mixed Asian and Pacific Islander individuals like herself.

In 2021, Alex earned a BA in Performing Arts through the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals (LEAP) Program at Saint Mary’s. For decades, LEAP has offered professional dancers and working artists like Alex a flexible, supportive path toward a college degree. “LEAP professors allowed me to tailor my coursework to my own career trajectory,” she says. “Whatever I was working on, they supported.”

At Mixed Asian Media, she’s working to bring the change she’s wanted to see in the entertainment industry. Her advice to other performing artists? “It’s important to nurture other things that make you you, and not have your whole identity wrapped up in performance. If you have an inkling of something that you might want to do, explore that. LEAP can help.”

Read more about Alex’s giant LEAP here: bit.ly/4d2sFOd

There's a Gael at the heart of the Olympic Games starting tomorrow! Check out the work of Romain Lachens '03 as Director of Engagement for Paris 2024!

Summer is in full swing over on campus! ☀️ 46 days until students are back, and we can hardly wait!

Here’s some inspiration for the day, courtesy Rebecca Carranza ’26. “Rebecca knows how to build relationships and make all people feel welcomed,” says Brother David Caretti, FSC ’99. At the 2024 Student Leadership Awards, he presented Rebecca with the Brother Dominic Berardelli Lasallian Leadership Award, presented to a student who exemplifies the Lasallian Core Principles and embraces the spirit of Brother Dom with a positive attitude, willingness to learn, and involvement in the fabric of our community life.
A first-generation college student, Rebecca is committed to creating an inclusive community here on campus, exemplified by her Beyond Assimilation program for first-gen students and the Imposter Syndrome program for BIPOC students. Students like Rebecca make Saint Mary’s such a special place.
Read more: bit.ly/3z88orC

Here’s some news you’ll like: why Money Magazine ranks Saint Mary’s as one of the top universities in the country. SMC earns high marks for quality, affordability, and student outcomes. Small class sizes and signature programs like Collegiate Seminar and Jan Term earn a special shout-out. So does the Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center—a hub for club sports, fitness, exercise, with a cool pool for warm California days.

Learn more: bit.ly/3XN2SEY

Happy Independence Day, Saint Mary's community!🇺🇸

As we honor our nation's history and the ideal of equality in the Declaration of Independence, we hope you celebrate with parades, BBQs, picnics, fireworks, and family gatherings. Here's to the red, white, and blue!

Meet Jian Bumatay ’21, PSM ’24: the son of Filipino immigrants, a Bay Area local, and one of the first graduates of our brand new Professional Science Master’s in Biotechnology. That path has already led to a role as a Quality Control Analyst for Genentech, one of the leading companies in the field.

Jian’s parents are nurses, and he always thought med school was his future. But SMC’s program in biotech has opened up a new way for him to make a difference.

Not only that, Jian says, “Today, I can’t imagine my life without Saint Mary’s. The friendships, the things I've learned, the networking—I don’t think I’d be who I am today if I went somewhere else.”

Read more about Jian’s journey here: bit.ly/3xxmGSd

Student clubs and organizations create wonderful opportunities and weave the community that defines Saint Mary’s. DiverseAbilities is one you should know. This has been the most vibrant year yet for the student group. Their innovative and inspiring events—such as Identity Poetry, Cards for a Cause, and Disability and Villainy in Film—have highlighted student experiences and challenged harmful and misinformed mindsets about people with disabilities. That commitment to leadership and community earned recognition as Student Organization of the Year at the 2024 Student Leadership Awards. Thanks and congrats to leaders Sahiba Kuar Dogra ’24, left, and Molly Floberg ’26, and all the students involved!

Read more: bit.ly/3z88orC

This summer, Gael Pantry and Legacy Garden have launched a farm stand! It will be open every Wednesday from 12-2 pm in Ferroggiaro Quad, running until Wednesday, August 14th.

Everyone is welcome at the Farm Stand. However, we request that students be given priority during the first hour (12-1 pm), while the rest of the campus community (staff, faculty, Brothers) visit during the second hour (1-2 pm). Please note that goods from the Gael Pantry are available exclusively to students.

Saint Mary’s Celebrates Juneteenth Freedom Day! SMC's Associate Vice President and Senior Diversity Officer Terri Jett writes about the significance of this day.
History is often told through different lenses, Dr. Jett observes, and says, “Saint Mary’s focus on social justice requires an institution of Lasallian Catholic roots to consider how history is told." She examines issues including colonization proposals during the time of the Emancipation Proclamation and looks back on the "Great Migration" when millions of Black families left the southern U.S. under duress and relocated to California from Texas and Louisiana.
If you’re in Richmond, California on June 19, be sure to visit the Saint Mary’s table at the Juneteenth Celebration. Read more here: bit.ly/3xrhrTZ

Counting down the days until Orientation this Thursday and Saturday! Comment down below if we will see you there. 😉 🙌 ❤️

Meet Kira Minaise ’24 — the Saint Mary’s Student Leader of the Year. She’s from Pleasanton, California, and she graduated in May as a Business Administration major with a concentration in Digital Media—participating in the SMC Honors Program as well. At this year’s annual Student Leadership Awards, she was recognized for her contributions through her roles as co-chair of the Residence Hall Association, a resident advisor, and involvement in Gael Women in Business. She has supported and advocated for her student residents, brought students together with a Gonzaga tailgate and Super Bowl watch party, and overall created a more vibrant, inclusive community on campus—even during the years of quarantine because of COVID-19. Congrats, Kira!

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3z88orC

Meet Amaya Simoni-Walters ’25, a Biology major who transferred to Saint Mary’s, a member of the Saint Mary’s Women’s Soccer team, and president of the Native American and Indigenous Student Association (NAISA). Amaya is Athabaskan and Yupik herself, and she is working toward a career in the sciences with the goal of actively implementing Native American health practices and cultural knowledge into contemporary communities.

On the academic side, she has been working with Professor Karen Ruff doing RNA transcription research and testing different units of gene expression. And she says being a part of the community with NAISA has helped her recognize, “I can be the Native person who brings my culture somewhere new.” That sense of community means caring for one another—something she has experienced personally.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4580U3z

Here’s How We Do Better: Meet the winners of the 2024 Lasallian Business Ethics Case Competition. They’re five undergraduates from the School of Economics and Business Administration at Saint Mary’s. They recently brought home top honors in an international case competition looking at what went wrong to create the Theranos debacle—and how to prevent those lapses in the future. Read about what they brought to the table, and how multiple perspectives gained from working with three SMC faculty made them a stronger team. And about how this winning combination defines business education at Saint Mary’s.