Academic Year 2017-2018 | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Reflecting On 2017

Professor David Donahue, Director of the Leo T. McCarthy Center I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Sankofa, the African word that means we need to know and understand our past to head intelligently into our future. Sankofa is usually symbolized by a bird whose feet are moving forward but whose head is looking back….

In D.C.’s Public Defender Service

Vivienne Pismarov, Psychology ’19 This fall semester, through the USF in DC program, I’ve had the opportunity to intern with the Public Defender Service. Everyone working there is tasked with one job and one job only: do everything in your power to support your client. As an investigative intern, I request records, locate potential witnesses,…

The Legacy Of Art Agnos

The Foghorn‘s editor-in-chief, Ali DeFazio, a McCarthy alumnae who participated in the the USF in DC program, recently interviewed former Mayor Art Agnos, who is the recipient of the inaugural Leo T. McCarthy Center award for Public Service. He is being honored at this week’s McCarthy Center’s 15th anniversary on November 9th. His former colleague,…

Save the Date – Nov. 9 for Our 15th Anniversary

On November 9, 2017, friends and supporters, alums, faculty and currents students will celebrate the Leo T. McCarthy Center and 15 years of training a new generation of ethical leaders. It’s an evening of recognizing the vision and legacy of co-founder Leo McCarthy, former San Francisco legislator, California Speaker of the Assembly and Lieutenant Governor….

Students in front of community center mural

Building Community Through Engage SF

For several years now, my Engage San Francisco colleagues and I have taken students, staff, faculty, supporters, and administrators on walks in the Western Addition. We intentionally don’t call them tours, as this is the neighborhood we work with, and community partners and community members join us on the walks. Most importantly, the word ‘tour’ rings of…

Advocating for Youth

CrystalVega, Urban Studies and Critical Diversity Studies ’18 What if local governments were the key to creating a new pipeline — a pipeline to the public sector? This is one of the projects being undertaken by the education and research nonprofit, the Institute for Local Government (ILG). Through their Governments Engaging Youth (GEY) project, they…

An International Student Who Wants You To Vote

USFVotes student volunteers on Move-in Day The National Voter Registration Day is on Tuesday, September 26th, and I want you to register! That’s a wish that might appear paradoxical due to the fact that I’m an international graduate student. I had a wonderful civics teacher back in Sweden who kept saying that voting is…

Our Civic Action Plan

In the current era of political vitriol, intolerance of diversity, misguided fear of the “other,” and civil unrest, higher education institutions must hold fast to the civic purpose of education and seek innovative ways to guide and support students to become “leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world.” We can no longer…

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