Tua Luce Dirige/Guide us by Your Light

On September 24, 1933, a Junior College opened in a section of Marymount School, Los Angeles and on July 7, 1948, Marymount received its Four-Year College Charter.

Marymount College, Los Angeles continued to grow. In 1960 Marymount College moved to a new campus in Palos Verdes Estates, opening its doors with Mother du Sacre Coeur Smith as President. At that time the roads were not yet in nor had the grass begun to grow. The new campus would accommodate 750 women and had a promising future on spacious grounds with a magnificent view of the Pacific.  

On March 10, 1964, Mother du Sacre Coeur died suddenly, her plans for Marymount halfway completed. In 1964-65 Mother Raymunde McKay, former President of Marymount Manhattan College, became President.Immediately, she had doubts about its location and began to consider alternatives.  

With the move of the 4-year College to Loyola University, Los Angeles, the Palos Verdes campus became a two-year college. In 1973 Marymount Palos Verdes College, a Catholic coed two-year college, offered an associate arts degree and a path to matriculate to four-year colleges and universities. Operation of the 2-year College was assumed by a Board of Trustees in 1973.

Marymount Palos Verdes College purchased the vacated property of Marymount School of Palos Verdes and relocated to Rancho Palos Verdes. In 1986 the college changed its name to Marymount College, Palos Verdes. In 2013, to reflect the change in offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs, the college changed its name to Marymount California University.  Struggling with viability issues, Marymount California University closed in August 2022. 

Marymount College, Palos Verdes 1960

Marymount College, Palos Verdes Peninsula – Student Life 1980s

Marymount Palos Verdes College was an independent two-year coeducational liberal arts college fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of the College Entrance Examination Board.

Marymount Palos Verdes College was founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary in 1933 and opened in that year as a two year liberal arts college in Westwood, a suburb of Los Angeles, next to the UCLA campus. The College then offered the baccalaureate degree in 1948, and in 1960 moved to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In 1968 the four year program merged with Loyola University to form Loyola Marymount University while the two-year college retained its identity at its location in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The flagpole at Marymount College holds a special place in history. The flag pole came from victory ceremonies at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley (Paradise Tahoe), California.