Guide to the Santa Clara University Men's Football & Rugby Club Records
Santa Clara University Library Archives & Special Collections
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA, 95053-0500
Phone: (408) 554-5530
Email: specialcollections@scu.edu
© 2015 Santa Clara University. All rights reserved.
Title: Santa Clara University Men’s Football & Rugby Club Records
Identifier/Call Number: R.G. 5TF
Contributing Institution:
Santa Clara University Library Archives & Special Collections
Physical Description:
10.0 linear feet,
16 boxes, 17 bound volumes
Date: 1869-1993 (bulk 1929-1993)
Abstract: The Santa Clara University Men’s Football & Rugby Club Records, 1869-1993 (bulk 1929-1993), document the history of men’s
football and rugby over a 120-year period and an 85-year period, respectively. The records consist of media guides, newspaper
clippings, photographs, players and coaching staff rosters, score cards, and season schedules. The media guides are publications
used by local and national media to track the teams, and include historical records, photographs, player profiles, season
previews and team statistics. This collection is arranged into one series: Series I. Santa Clara University Men’s Football
& Rugby Club Records, 1869-1993 (bulk 1929-1993).
Physical Location: This collection is located in Santa Clara University Library's Archives & Special Collections.
Language of Material:
English
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in the Department of Archives & Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise,
Santa Clara University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher
must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Santa Clara University does not assume any responsibility for
infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.
Preferred Citation
Santa Clara University Men’s Football & Rugby Club Records, Record Group 5TF, Santa Clara University Library Archives & Special
Collections.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Russell White in 2011. Reviewed by Erin Louthen in 2015. Finding aid EAD encoded by Shannon Hartman
in 2015.
Organizational History
Santa Clara University was founded in 1851 by the Society of Jesus as Santa Clara College and is California’s oldest operating
institution of higher learning. It was established on the grounds of Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the eighth of the original
21 California missions. The college originally operated as a preparatory school and did not offer courses of collegiate rank
until 1853. The institution became known as the University of Santa Clara in 1912, when the schools of engineering and law
were added. For 110 years, Santa Clara University was an all-male school. In 1961, women were accepted as undergraduates and
Santa Clara University became the first coeducational Catholic university in California. The number of students and faculty
tripled over the next decade and the university began the largest building program in school history with eight residence
halls, a student union, and an athletic stadium. In the early 1970s, the Board of Trustees voted to limit the size of the
undergraduate population, an action that was intended to preserve the character and ensure the quality of the university for
generations to come. In 1985, the university adopted Santa Clara University as its official name.
Santa Clara's football history stretched from 1896 until 1992. In its first decade, football was run largely as a student-led
club activity, and there is no official record of Santa Clara playing between 1898 and 1902. Between 1902 and 1905 games were
held with other clubs, high schools, and military schools, with one varsity game against Stanford. Football, then as now,
was a brutal sport. Due to mounting injuries and deaths, President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to ban the sport unless rules
and protections were put into place. A long process of governmental and academic negotiation led to the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) being formed in 1910. During this time many colleges, including Santa Clara, instituted rugby
as a replacement sport for football.
The Santa Clara University rugby club was established in 1907, following the temporary disbandment of the men’s football program
from 1905-1919. The club quickly rose to the ranks of a notable rugby program, ending the 1916 season with a 10-0 record.
The rugby club’s success was overshadowed by the re-establishment of the men’s football program in 1919, as well as the establishment
of other sports on campus in later years, such as the men’s soccer program. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the rugby program
was revived under a new name, Santa Clara University Touring Side (SCUTS). By the 1970s, the men’s rugby club had become Bay
Area champions. In 2006, under the leadership of Chris Kron, SCUTS placed 9th in the Division II Sweet Sixteen tournament.
The following season, the team was invited to participate in Division I play, where it currently competes against Stanford,
Chico State, and Sacramento State for league standings and national championship consideration.
The men’s football program was discontinued in 1993. The men’s rugby program continues at Santa Clara University to this day.
Bibliography
McKevitt, Gerald, S.J.
The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1979.
Related Materials
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into one series: Series I. Santa Clara University Men’s Football & Rugby Club Records, 1869-1993
(bulk 1929-1993).
Scope and Content of Collection
The Santa Clara University Men’s Football & Rugby Club Records, 1869-1993 (bulk 1929-1993), document the history of men’s
football and rugby over a 120-year period and an 85-year period, respectively. The records consist of media guides, newspaper
clippings, rosters of players and coaching staff, score cards and season schedules. The media guides are publications used
by local and national media to track the teams, and include historical records, photographs, player profiles, season previews
and team statistics.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Malley, Pat (George Patrick)
College sports –- California –- Santa Clara
Education, Higher -- California -- Santa Clara
Santa Clara College (Calif.) -- History
Santa Clara University (Calif.) -- Football
Santa Clara University (Calif.) -- History
Santa Clara University (Calif.) -- Rugby
University of Santa Clara -- History
Series I: Men’s Football & Rugby Team Records,
1869-1993 (bulk 1929-1993)
Physical Description:
16 boxes, 17 bound volumes
Scope and Content
This series documents the history of men’s football and rugby at Santa Clara University over a 120-year period and an 85-year
period, respectively. The records consist of game day souvenir programs, media guides, newspaper clippings, player photographs,
player and coaching staff rosters, record books, recruiting and prospectus books, score cards, and season schedule cards.
The media guides are publications used by local and national media to track the teams, and include historical records, photographs,
player profiles, season previews and team statistics. Information pertaining to the NCAA Sugar Bowl Annual Classic (played
in New Orleans, LA) is closely followed as Santa Clara’s football team participated in the bowl game in the late 1930s. This
series is arranged chronologically by date. New accruals are not interfiled chronologically. Instead, they are added to the
end of the series.
Volume 1: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1869-1934
Box 1: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1902-1929
Volume 2: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1923-1939
Box 2: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1929-1937
Volume 3: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1932
Volume 4: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1933
Volume 5: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1933
Volume 6: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1934
Volume 7: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1934
Box 3: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1937-1940
Box 4: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1940-1946
Volume 8: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1940-1952
Volume 9: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1941
Box 5: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1947-1949
Box 6: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1949-1952
Volume 10: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1950
Volume 11: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1951
Box 7: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1952-1963
Volume 12: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1959-1963
Box 8: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1963-1969
Volume 13: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1963-1975
Volume 14: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1964-1965
Volume 15: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1966-1967
Volume 16: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1967-1969
Box 9: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1969-1976
Volume 17: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1970-1977
Box 10: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1977-1980
Box 11: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1980-1985
Box 12: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1986-1989
Box 13: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1989-1993
Box 14: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1978-1989, and undated
Box 15: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1938-1989
Box 16: Men's Football & Rugby Club Records,
1992, and undated
