University of San Francisco | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Preview the 2018 Capstone Symposium

The University of San Francisco Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Master of Public Affairs invites you to join us for the 2018 graduating classes’ capstone presentations on May 14th and May 15th. The capstone project is the final requirement for the completion of their master’s degree and includes a well-researched analytical paper that…

Questions For John Chiang

California State Treasurer John Chiang will be our fifth speaker to participate in Conversations for the Common Good, a new speaker’s series that invites inclusive voices to the challenge of serving the public good. Join us in meeting California’s Treasurer, John Chiang and POLITICO’s Carla Marinucci in conversations on Thursday, March 22nd, 5:00 PM on…

How Cobb Elementary Transformed Me

Valeria Imendia, International Studies’18 I still remember receiving an email about a literacy internship opportunity during the fall semester of my junior year and thinking it would be a great chance for me to expand my experiences in education. As a student in the Dual Degree Program for Teacher Preparation, I decided to apply to…

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…

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…

How Bolivia Is Changing My Perspective

Natalia Caprile, Sociology and Pre-Med ’18 Before the Privett Global Scholars program, I had never spent more than two weeks outside of the U.S. The thought of changing that through such a challenging program was daunting. However, being in Bolivia and having the opportunity to open myself up to the people here, as well as listen…

Learning to Care About Politics

Something that I often hear from family members, friends, and teachers is, “The government doesn’t work.” Chances are, if you’re familiar with American politics, you have heard or even said something similar yourself. This was the mindset that I even had as I prepared for my internship with the McCarthy Fellows program. Pessimistic? Sure, but…

On My First Year Of Grad School

Jessica Lindquist, M.A., Public Affairs ’18 Last July I left my cushy job as an executive assistant at a financial technology company in Mid-Market to try something scary and exciting: graduate school. I had been accepted into the Master of Public Affairs program at the University of San Francisco. At my core, I knew it…