9 / 200
INTRODUCTION
A 20th anniversary, or a 200th, is a pause on the
bank of the stream of existence. Watching the hur
tling waters tumble by, the onlooker meditatively
returns to the spring that set these forces into play,
and imaginatively projects their widening sweep
even to the oceans of eternity. At this existential
moment, viewed in these pages, the University of
San Diego reviews and previews, puts into proper
perspective a score of years and warms at the pro
pitious prospect of more. The present beneficiaries
may feel that they are standing on the verge of cre
ation. This is year 1. But they also need the historic
sense and the eschatalogical vision.
The city in motion finds its roots in that moment
200 years ago when Father Junipero Serra crossed
the last barranca, stood on a mesa overlooking a
land "so good and gladsome", and invited all to
come to San Diego. The University of like name for
this moment looks back before it leaps ahead, trying
to recapture the thoughts of his heart as Bishop
Buddy toured the majestic "Hill" for the first time
with the Religious of the Sacred Heart and a few
priests, made the historic decision, committed his
diocesans to the sacrificial struggles, braved the
disappointments and wrong directions, turned the
first shovels of dirt, blessed the cornerstones, dedi
cated building after building.
But neither the city nor the university lolls in the
past nor dawdles in the present. The future chal
lenges to blossoming, to fruition. The melee of
change and the melange of unification, the recogni
tion of new needs, the fixing of new purposes, is the
temper of the moment. Under Bishop Furey there
is an exciting enthusiasm for what can be as we
gratefully recall what has been. The growth, the
economic development, the natural benignity of
San Diego assure us that it was right to pioneer and
it is reasonable to carry forward this "small island
of ultimate truth", where the art of thinking derives
from the thinking arts and the life of the spirit is
directed by the Holy Spirit. As the cross on the tower
of the Immaculata rises in a grand benediction over
the campus, the University prays for its educators
and educands of the past, present and future:
"I give thanks to my God for all my memories of
you, happy at all times in all the prayers I
offer for all of you.
And this is my prayer for you: May your love
grow richer and richer yet, in the fullness of
its knowledge and the depth of its perception,
so that you may learn to prize what isof value:
may nothing cloud your progress: may you
reap through Jesus Christ the full harvest,
To God's honor and praise."
Rev. J. Vincent Sullivan
5