Golden Gate University traces its origins
to the founding of the San Francisco
YMCA in the early 1850s. One of the
first such organizations in the country, the San
Francisco YMCA’s primary function was to serve as
an educational oasis in the midst of a chaotic Gold
Rush-era San Francisco.
The curriculum was informal, although courses were offered regularly. A library with 187 books was established and became the first public library in San Francisco. Those books formed the core of Golden Gate’s University Library, which now holds more than 126,000 volumes (print and electronic), plus microforms.
In 1881, the school was organized as the YMCA Night School, and in 1894 the name was changed to the YMCA Evening College.
In 1901, the Evening College established the YMCA Law School, known today as Golden Gate University School of Law. It was the third law school, following Stanford University and Hastings College of Law, founded in Northern California.
The YMCA building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. At the time 700 students were enrolled in the Evening College, and students continued taking classes in tents until new accommodations could be found.
In 1909, a new central branch of the YMCA building was constructed. New classes were offered in salesmanship, real estate, banking, surveying, card writing, commercial art, languages and music.
Golden Gate College, the name chosen by a student committee, became a California nonprofit organization on April 9, 1923, and all education programs below the collegiate level were discontinued.
By 1950, when it was accredited by the Commission on Higher Schools of the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools, 3,061 students were attending Golden Gate College. It was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1959.
The post-war years brought new programs of study, including graduate programs in business administration, public administration, accounting and taxation.
In 1960, the Board of Governors was eliminated in favor of a strengthened Board of Trustees. The bylaws authorized Golden Gate to establish branches throughout California. Golden Gate anticipated the increasing need for higher education in the sixties, seventies and eighties and expanded to more than 40 locations
in California, Asia and at military bases nationwide. With these new bylaws the college became virtually independent — an important step in shedding its image as just another branch of the YMCA.
The college became well known for sound teaching, sensitivity to the needs of students and alertness to the professional marketplace. In 1972 the institution was renamed Golden Gate University, and in 1979 construction began on a new building on Mission Street,
where the university had moved in 1969.
An older campus building was heavily damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, and remained closed until repairs were completed in the summer of 1993.
GGU has not lost sight of its mission to transform students’ lives, and prepare them for successful careers in professional fields through programs of exceptional quality that integrate theory with practical experience. The university is a progressive institution that is rapidly becoming a model of the urban university. With its sights on the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, it will continue to offer programs of academic and professional excellence.
In April 1906, the earthquake and fire destroyed the YMCA building (above) at the corner of Mason and Ellis Streets. Students continued their classes in tents (below) until a new building was constructed.
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