Critical Diversity Studies | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Freedom as a Practice

“Freedom is not a secret. It’s a practice.” – Alexis Pauline Gumbs The Leo T. McCarthy Center is co-sponsoring this year’s Critical Diversity Studies Forum. In this week’s blog, we introduce the keynote speaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the founder of Brilliance Remastered, an online network and series of retreats and online intensives serving community accountable…

Community Building Through Art

This week’s blog is contributed by Community Empowerment Activist (CEA) and Critical Diversity Studies major, Alaia Zaki ’23. The year long CEA course analyzes systems of oppression and movements of resistance while working with grassroots organizations in San Francisco. Learn about the recent mid-year retreat and mural walk and from Alaia, and how it connects…

Time for Revolutionary Love

The Leo T. McCarthy Center is co-sponsoring this year’s Critical Diversity Studies Forum. In this week’s blog, we introduce the keynote speaker Valarie Kaur, creator of the Revolutionary Love Project, a national initiative devoted to creating media that inspires others to practice the ethic of love. Its current project target racism and hate toward minority…

Community as a Coro Fellow

Each and Every (E&E) A haiku by Crystal Vega Twelve parts of a whole, Intertwined success and joy, Fail forward, Fellows. Hello, my name is Crystal Vega, and I am a 2018-2019 St. Louis Coro Fellow. I am an each and an every, an individual participating in a nine month experiential learning fellowship in public…

Love to the Class of 2018

Crystal Vega, Urban Studies and Critical Diversity Studies ’18, was awarded this year’s Leo T. McCarthy Award. Below is her commencement speech. Dear Class of 2018, I love you. You, the first generation students who paved the road for so many to come. You, the nonbinary and trans students who are constantly pushing the university to…

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…

Meet our 2016-17 Advocates for Community Engagement (ACEs)

Advocates for Community Engagement are socially responsible, civically engaged student leaders who facilitate meaningful service-learning experiences for USF students, faculty, and their host organizations. Primarily, ACEs act as liaisons to ensure the needs and expectations of all stakeholders are accounted for and prioritized. Each ACE makes a one-year commitment to work onsite at Bay Area…