Gov. Gavin Newsom recently visited his alma mater, Santa Clara University (SCU), to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the university’s new $300 million STEM building.
The building is named the “John A. and Susan Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation,” or the “Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation” (SCDI) for short. It spans 270,000 square feet and has 1,446 classrooms, a teaching lab, and research lab seats. The facility aims to foster a reported 85 percent increase in STEM enrollment at the university over the last decade.
“If we don’t invest in the future, we will not do very well there,” the governor, who graduated from SCU in 1989, said at the ceremony.
The building will also be home to 50 student clubs including Engineering without Borders, Global Medical Brigades, Physics Club, and Women in STEM.
In addition to catering to STEM students, the SCDI will be home to the Diversity & Inclusion Student Center that will host events and speakers, and support underrepresented students at the University. All Santa Clara University undergraduates will take at least one course in the SCDI.
The project was made possible by John and Susan Sobrato’s $100 million donation announced in 2017, according to the university.
“Innovation happens when talented people with diverse skills and perspectives come together to solve complex problems,” said John Sobrato SCU ‘60. “[The SCDI] will be a creative meeting ground to help foster spontaneous interactions so undergraduate and graduate students and faculty can connect, collaborate and create.”
Acting President Lisa Kloppenberg added, “This beautiful, spacious facility will be a heart and home for the innovative spirit that has long characterized a Santa Clara education, opening up possibilities for students from virtually every discipline across campus.”
For more information on the STEM building, click here.