Hearst College is a fictional Southern California college and one of the settings of Veronica Mars. In the universe of this series, the college's name derives from a Hearst family noted for the retailer Hearst-Mart. One of the family's members, Selma Hearst Rose, is a member of the college's Board of Trustees, and is portrayed by Patty Hearst (real-life heiress to the William Randolph Hearst fortune).
Hearst College was first mentioned in "One Angry Veronica" when one of the jurors, who was a Women's Studies Professor, recommended the college to Veronica and told her that Hearst had generous scholarships and grant programs.
In "The Rapes of Graff," Veronica and Wallace went to a "Get to Know Hearst" weekend. While there, Veronica discovered that there was a serial date rapist who shaved girls' heads. She managed to exonerate Troy, but never figured out who the rapist was. One of the deans of the school, Dean Harlow, was introduced in this episode, as well as the fraternity Pi Sigma Sigma.
Veronica attends Hearst as a freshman during the third season, with studies including a class in criminology. During her first semester, as seen in "Spit & Eggs," Veronica is able to solve the mystery behind the string of campus rapes.
Hearst College is also used in the television series Moonlight. Jason Dohring, who starred as Logan Echolls on Veronica Mars, also stars in Moonlight as vampire Josef Konstantin. Veronica Mars and Moonlight were both produced by Joel Silver.
