usfmccarthycenter | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

USF Engage San Francisco – Working with the Western Addition

Karin Cotterman Director, Engage San Francisco It is just over a year since USF launched Engage San Francisco, a place-based initiative that partners USF with the Western Addition to respond to community identified needs. More than partnering to support the provision of direct services, the vision of Engage San Francisco is one of transformation through…

Women Organizing! Inspiration at Mujeres Unidas y Activas and The Women’s Building

Amanda Smith Master of Arts in Urban Affairs candidate (’16) This past week I had the opportunity to attend one of Mujeres Unidas y Activas’ (MUA) regular meetings at The Women’s Building in the Mission District. Through research that the Urban Affairs graduate team is conducting this semester, I have been able to connect with and…

Reflections of a Graduate student

As the first year of my journey to earn my Master of Public Affairs (MoPA) from the University of San Francisco (USF) draws to a close, I take this unique opportunity of guest blogging to reflect on this adventure.

Service-Learning Directors from West Coast Catholic Universities come together for 3rd Annual Examen Gathering

Star Moore Director of Community-Engaged Learning On February 8, 2015, I boarded a flight with Associate Dean (soon to be Vice Provost) Shirley McGuire to the Pacific Northwest for a two-day Examen retreat at Seattle University. The Examen group was created as an attempt to strengthen informal but vital relationships between colleagues doing community-engaged work at similar institutions. This…

Spending a semester studying in D.C.

Caleb Banks I am so grateful that I have the privilege and opportunity to live in the United States Capitol—Washington D.C. This area is an amazing place to be a 22-year old with energy and big ideas. Despite learning from and immersing myself into the seemingly endless opportunities that are ever present here in DC, my singular source…

In Support of The McCarthy Center’s Service Learning Faculty Seminar

John Stover, Department of Sociology It was the second week of spring semester, and we were halfway through the day’s session of Sociology Capstone Seminar, the cumulative, upper division research and service-learning (SL) course required of all majors. Silena Layne, Program Director at Up on Top, and Jenna Casey, Volunteer & Development Manager at Mission Graduates, had just…

ACE Winter Retreat: Digging a little deeper

Alexis Stanley Last week my fellow ACEs and I had the pleasure of beginning our winter retreat by first stopping by City of Dreams in the Bayview district of San Francisco. This organization’s mission is dedicated to helping youth living in low-income housing build brighter futures through mentorship and youth development. We got to see…

A look back at my first semester

For the past six weeks, I have been back in New York City and away from my life as a graduate student in San Francisco. This time has given me the opportunity to reflect on my first semester at USF, and try to readjust to my old life in NYC. I cannot help but make…