Soon afterward in 1957, the original site was purchased by Henry J. The coeducation graduate division was formally established in 1955.
In 1949 the college became one of the charter members of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). By 1908 the convent began to offer classes at a post-secondary level and was renamed the College of the Holy Names. The original site of the convent was on the shores of Lake Merritt. They were invited to Oakland by Father Michael King, pastor of Saint Mary's Church to establish a school for girls and to provide means to train future teachers. The university was originally established as the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 1868 by six members of the Sisters of the Holy Names, a teaching order from Quebec, Canada. History Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Oakland's Lake Merritt, 1884 It was founded in 1868 by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary with which the university remained affiliated until it closed in 2023. Holy Names University was a private Roman Catholic university in Oakland, California.