On September 16, 1935, the Colegio Universitario del Sagrado Corazón offered its first class, marking the beginning of what we know today as Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.
By Institutional Communications
There are projects that emerge from a vision and, over time, find new ways to respond to the needs of their communities. Sagrado’s university history began 91 years ago with a first class, but its roots reach much further back.
The Sagrado Corazón educational project originated in the 19th century, when Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in France, guided by the purpose of providing education to girls and young women at a time when their access to education was limited. That educational mission crossed borders and reached Puerto Rico decades later, when three religious sisters of the Society arrived on the island and founded the Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, dedicated to the education of girls.
Over time, that educational endeavor expanded its reach. On September 16, 1935, a new chapter began with the first class session of the Colegio Universitario del Sagrado Corazón (CUSC), affectionately known as “el College,” under the leadership of Mother Rosa de Bolívar and Mother María Teresa Guevara. In the iconic Sagrado Corazón building, located at the highest point of our campus in Santurce, 14 female students began their studies in the Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Secretarial Sciences.
At the time, Puerto Rico had few institutions of higher education, and on this hill in Santurce, that first class in 1935 marked the beginning of the university project that would eventually become Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and opened a path of transformation through higher education in Puerto Rico.
Four years later, in 1939, “el College” awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degrees to 11 students. Since then, generations of students have passed through its classrooms and carried with them an education that seeks to integrate knowledge, awareness, faith, and service.
The educational endeavor that began in France and crossed borders to reach the Puerto Rican archipelago has continued to evolve alongside its community and the times. Its history continues through the mission that guides Sagrado today: to educate individuals in intellectual freedom and moral consciousness, prepared to participate in building a Puerto Rican society that is more authentically Christian and committed to justice and peace.
For this reason, commemorating September 16 is also an opportunity to recognize a history that continues to be written. The Mass of Convocation for the Beginning of the Academic Year offers the Sagrado community a space to give thanks for the educational project we have inherited, honor those who made its first steps possible, and renew its commitment to a vocation of service, solidarity, and the common good.
Ninety-one years after that first class, “el College” remains a point of departure. Its legacy lives on in every generation that finds in education an opportunity to transform its reality and put its knowledge at the service of others.
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