La Sierra University - History

History

La Sierra was founded in 1922 when the Southeastern California Conference, one of the regional governing bodies of the Adventist church, obtained 300 acres (120 ha) of land in an unincorporated area of Riverside County from Willits J. Hole. The land was once a part of a large Mexican land grant named Rancho La Sierra, giving La Sierra its current name.

Since its founding in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, La Sierra has morphed through a number of stages. In 1927, the school became known as La Sierra Academy and Normal School when it expanded into offering courses for future teachers. Later that year, after course offerings were expanded, it became known as the Southern California Junior College. In 1939, the school was renamed La Sierra College. It was first accredited as a four-year liberal arts college in 1946. In 1964 the city of Riverside annexed much of La Sierra lands and nearby Arlington, placing the college within Riverside's city limits.

In 1967, the college merged with Loma Linda University, becoming Loma Linda University's College of Arts and Sciences. During this time, La Sierra's School of Education, School of Business and Management, and its Division of Continuing Studies were founded.

In 1990, the two campuses were reorganized into separate institutions and the La Sierra campus became La Sierra University. However, La Sierra is still a major feeder school for Loma Linda University, particularly for Loma Linda's medical programs. After the separation of the two campuses into independent institutions, Fritz Guy became president of LSU. He was followed by Lawrence T. Geraty in 1993.

In 1999, over 20 percent of the student body signed a petition criticizing the university's core curriculum due to its alleged lack of focus on the Bible, politically liberal leanings, and "subversive attacks on Christianity and monotheism".

La Sierra sold approximately 200 acres of its land to a developer in 2000, in what the university described as "the most significant physical change to La Sierra in the institution's 78-year history." The land, which the school formerly used for agriculture and a dairy, became a planned development known as "Riverwalk".

In 2007, Randal Wisbey, previously president of Columbia Union College, became president of La Sierra University.