Why open a new Catholic university in Southern California in 2006?

On November 2nd, 2000, while visiting Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio I saw something that would change my life. I saw a campus full of students on fire for the Lord. I had never seen that level of excitement about Jesus Christ by so many on a college campus. Late that evening, sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the Portiuncula chapel, I felt the Lord tugging at me to build a university like this in San Diego.

I immediately gave the Lord my answer 'Impossible, a university is too big and too expensive.'

During the Summer of 2003, having finished teaching a class looking at the start-up of entrepreneurial high-tech companies to graduate and under-graduate students at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), I reflected on the passion of the UCSD students to go out and change the world by building successful technology based businesses. Reflecting back on my Steubenville visit 3 years earlier, I imagined the possibilities of combining (1) the spirituality of Franciscan University with (2) the entrepreneurial focus of UCSD and (3) applying it to the culturally influential and morally destructive field of media - particularly new media.

The Catholic influence on the media is near rock bottom, but is enjoying a small but passionate resurgence in Hollywood. New media, which is evolving and maturing daily, is poised to radically change the landscape of the media industry. An orthodox Catholic university can be a critical centerpiece to the resurgence. San Diego is a hub for innovation in new media enabling technology and is geographically very close to the creative center of the industry in Los Angeles.

I could no longer say 'NO' to the Lord, and JP Catholic was born on September 4th, 2003.

Nationally - JP Catholic will be a premier niche Catholic university
JP Catholic seeks to be the premier Catholic university in the niche academic disciplines that leverage technology to influence morality. Other niche Catholic universities include Ave Maria Law School and Thomas Aquinas College, with its singular focus on the Great Books. Caltech is the greatest, secular, niche university on the planet. JP Catholic does not aspire to be a large and diverse academic institution like Notre Dame or USD.

Locally - JP Catholic will be complementary to the University of San Diego
JP Catholic is a niche university that has little overlap with the large and established Catholic University of San Diego. USD is a nationally ranked school with established programs in law, education, nursing and business - with particular strength in real estate and small family business. USD’s media program is research focused, while JP Catholic's academic niche is in the creative, technical and business aspects of media, particularly new media. JP Catholic will, alongside USD, cater to the higher education needs of the rapidly growing Catholic population of Southern California, which has grown from 1 million in 1950, when USD was built, to 7.5 million in 2005. USD received more than 7,600 applicants for its freshman class of 1,200 in the 2004-05 academic year.

Catholic Population by Diocese in Southern California