Rudolf Steiner College is one of America's leading Waldorf teacher education colleges. It is also a center for anthroposophical studies and transformative adult education.
Rudolf Steiner College was founded in 1976, but the beginnings of anthroposophical activity in Sacramento go back to the early 1940s. Lysbeth “Betty” Buck (1913–1987), a California native, came to know about Anthroposophy in England in the late 1930s and organized some activities when she returned to her home state. In 1959, she helped found the Sacramento Waldorf School. Four years later, Betty Buck was instrumental in forming the Faust Branch, the local branch of the Anthroposophical Society in America.
A group of local people meeting with Carl and Christine Stegmann were inspired to create the College on February 22, 1976. It was first called the Sacramento Center for Anthroposophical Studies and its initial focus was the spiritual destiny of America. Carl then invited René and Merlyn Querido to join the endeavor. After their arrival in 1977, emphasis was placed on establishing a Foundation Year program to introduce students to the insights of Anthroposophy and a Teacher Training program to train teachers for the Waldorf schools. The Center’s name was changed to Rudolf Steiner College in 1979. Betty Staley and Nancy Poer, who were among the College’s founders, have continued the work on the spiritual destiny of America at the College for over thirty years.
Rudolf Steiner College strives to provide a creative educational environment for men and women of diverse ages and backgrounds who seek a deeper understanding of the challenges of modern life and wish to develop new capacities as a basis for their life's work, for social service and cultural renewal.
