SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Pacific West Conference has extended an invitation to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco to become the league’s eighth member institution.
PacWest Commissioner Bob Hogue presented the invitation and Dr. Elisa Stephens, the president of the university, and Dr. Jamie Williams, the director of athletics at AAU, accepted the offer on Monday, March 10, during the institution’s press conference in San Francisco.
“This is an exciting opportunity for both the PacWest and the Academy of Art University,” Hogue said. “It gives our conference eight solid athletic programs located in Hawai‘i, California, Arizona and Utah. It opens up options for our conference in terms of possible post-season tournaments down the road, balanced scheduling with an even number of teams, and a university in the heart of a major metropolitan city.”
The Academy of Art University will join the PacWest for 2008-09 and compete as an independent before playing full PacWest Conference schedules in 2009-10.
The university recently announced that it was starting its first intercollegiate athletic program with competition beginning this fall. AAU will apply for NCAA Division II status before June 1, 2008.
Known as the
Urban Knights, the Academy of Art University will sponsor six women’s athletic teams and five men’s sports for a total of 11 NCAA II programs. The university will offer athletic scholarships and sponsor the following sports:
- Baseball
- Basketball (Men and Women)
- Cross Country/Track and Field (Men and Women)
- Golf (Men)
- Soccer (Men and Women)
- Softball
- Tennis (Women)
- Volleyball (Women)
The PacWest currently sponsors competition in 10 of the sports, while baseball became an awards and statistics program for the league this year.
“The Academy of Art University in San Francisco sponsoring baseball gives us five of our member institutions with the sport,” Hogue explained. “It gives us an option if want to expand baseball as a competition sport in our league.”
The addition of the Academy of Art University also makes geographic sense for both the institution and the PacWest.
“Academy of Art University’s proximity to Notre Dame de Namur in the San Francisco area also balances the league in terms of scheduling,” Hogue explained. “Travel partners are now more geographically possible with four schools in Hawaii, two in the Bay Area, and two in the Southwest – Dixie State and Grand Canyon.”
The Academy of Art University was established by Richard S. Stephens in 1929 in San Francisco. Assisted by his wife, Clara, Stephens opened the new school in a rented loft at 215 Kearny Street to teach advertising art and named it the Academy of Advertising Art.
In a few years, a distinguished faculty of practicing art and design professionals was assembled and the school’s philosophy was formulated - hire established professionals to teach future professionals.
In 1933 the curriculum was expanded to include fashion illustration, and in 1936 a fine art department was added.
In 1951, after graduating from Stanford University, Dr. Richard A. Stephens took over the presidency from his parents. His vision led to the expansion of the Academy from an enrollment of 50 students in two rented loft spaces to a 5,200-student body, with continued expansion of department majors available.
In 1966 the school was incorporated and granted authority to offer a bachelor’s degree in fine art by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education of the State of California.
The institution’s graduate program was approved by 1983.
Dr. Elisa Stephens, the granddaughter of the school’s founder, succeeded her father as president of the Academy of Art University in 1992. Stephens has been committed to expanding the Academy’s curriculum to stay current with new technologies and industry trends, as well as making state-of-the art facilities and resources available to Academy students.
In 2004, the name of the school was changed from Academy of Art College to Academy of Art University in recognition of the school’s depth, scope and quality.
Today the university has more than 11,000 students, making it the largest private school of art and design in the country. Students now have the opportunity to pursue a bachelor of fine arts, associate of arts, master of fine arts, master of architecture or a certificate program, with more than 30 areas of academic emphasis.
Dr. Jamie Williams is a graduate of the University of Nebraska where he was an All-American and an All-Big Eight Conference football player. He played for the Houston Oilers and the San Francisco 49ers during his career.