Immaculate Heart College was a private, Catholic college located in Los Angeles, California.

The College was established in 1916 by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ten years after they had founded Immaculate Heart High School on the 13-acre property.^[1][2]. In the late 1960s, in response to directives from Vatican II, the Sisters followed the guidance of Pope Paul VI and conducted an extensive review of their structure and proposed changes in how they prayed, worked, lived together and governed themselves. However, the local archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, was opposed to all of the Sisters' proposed changes, leading to a public dispute where he ordered the removal of all Immaculate Heart Sisters teaching in the Los Angeles diocesan schools, and finally presented the Community with an ultimatum: either conform with his wishes or seek dispensation from vows. In the end, 90% chose to dispense from their vows and reorganize as a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)), The Immaculate Heart Community, a voluntary lay community.^[2].

Corita Kent was a member of the Community and taught art at the College between 1938 and 1968.

The College closed in 1981 due to financial difficulties; its successor was the Immaculate Heart College Center.^[3]

IHC's campus is now the home of the American Film Institute.

Notable Alumni

• Angie Dickinson, actress, Police Woman
• Mark Ridley-Thomas, California legislator
• Cherrie Moraga, playwright and activist

References

External links

• Official Immaculate Heart Community Website
• The Corita Art Center, part of the Community