Story.

The Campus of Life is the collaborative effort of local visionaries and community leaders in San Diego who had the goal of bringing education to life and creating a real-world community where neighbors take care of each other and grow together.  

Over the course of 25 years, innovators and community leaders including Rachel Solomon (founder of the Optimum Health Institute), Morrie Steiman, Richard Gabriel, Colin Seid, Rabbi Yonah Fradkin (founder Chabad San Diego County), Alan Saloner and Craig Saloner (founders of the Station Co-Lab), and Milton Sorokin, among numerous others, pursued a dream to create an intergenerational community of good. They envisioned a way of living and growing, with timeless values and modern interests, that is supportive, committed to personal growth and development, civically engaged, socially responsible and dedicated to bettering the world and each other. As long-time San Diegans, the group set out to tackle three wide-ranging yet interwoven issues impacting quality of life and the social fabric in the region:

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Community. Education. Family.

  1. Cohesion for a spread-out city with limited neighborly interaction and civic engagement
  2. Mentorship for young people to develop their dreams and reach their potential.
  3. Connection between young families, new to the area, and seniors living alone.

In 1977, the group began by funding a nonprofit dormitory combined with mentoring and educational support for college students and the indigent. Over the next decades, this was followed by support for experiential education, summer camps and continuing education. In 1998, the vision for a residential learning community was developed as a legacy for this great city. Starting in 2008, Craig Saloner, Josef Fradkin and their educational team researched and refined the intersection between living and learning, personal development and community, leading to the purchase of 10 acres from the Chabad Hebrew Academy to create a idyllic, permanent setting for innovation at the Campus of Life. Craig simultaneously opened the Station Co-Lab, an innovative institute where ancient wisdom and modern performance science combine.

Today, the Campus of Life is bringing together a cutting-edge program under its highly regarded Dean, Dr. Ilana DeLaney, committed to developing a new approach in pursuing one's personal growth goals while learning with innovative support.