The University of Portland was founded in September 1901 by Portland Archbishop Alexander Christie, who had purchased property atop Waud’s Bluff with financial assistance from the Congregation of Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana. Archbishop Christie named the school “Columbia University” after the mighty river that flowed nearby, and when it opened its doors, it was staffed with priests from the archdiocese. Columbia University achieved junior college status in 1922, and in 1925 the College of Arts and Sciences was founded.