La Sierra University
La Sierra University
Main page

La Sierra University

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
La Sierra University

La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Linda University (LLU) in 1967 and became the Loma Linda University La Sierra College of Arts and Sciences (or better known as La Sierra Campus of LLU). In 1990, the La Sierra Campus separated from Loma Linda University to become La Sierra University, an independent institution. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA), and several discipline-based accrediting bodies.

Since becoming independent in 1990, La Sierra University has won multiple national and world titles in the Enactus (formerly Students in Free Enterprise) competition. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, controversy arose involving the teaching of evolution in La Sierra's science curriculum. 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 1923, the school became known as La Sierra Academy and Normal School when it expanded into offering courses for future teachers. In 1927, after course offerings were expanded, it became known as the Southern California Junior College. In 1939, the school was renamed La Sierra College. In 1940, the high school section split to form La Sierra College Preparatory School. The preparatory school is now named La Sierra Academy and is still located near the university. La Sierra College 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 LLU, becoming its La Sierra Campus of LLU. Between 1967 and 1990, La Sierra's College of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, School of Business and Management (now the Tom and Vi Zapara School of Business), School of Religion (now the H.M.S.Richards Divinity School), and Division of Continuing Studies were established.

In 1990, the two campuses became two separate institutions, and the La Sierra campus became La Sierra University. La Sierra remains a major feeder school for LLU particularly for its medical programs. After the separation, Fritz Guy became La Sierra University's first president. He was followed by Lawrence T. Geraty in 1993, Randal Wisbey in 2007, and Joy Fehr in 2019.

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 2009, the university's science curriculum became a subject of controversy as the school was publicly accused, primarily by former pastor David Asscherick, La Sierra University student Carlos Cerna, and former La Sierra University student Louie Bishop, of exclusively teaching evolution in its biology classes, which the accusers felt was contrary to the teachings of the Adventist church. Concerned about the allegation, a campaign collected over 6,300 signatures to an online petition which called for Adventist universities to teach the Genesis creation narrative.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.