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

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…

Releasing our 2017 Annual Report

Each year the Center strives to honor the legacy of Leo T. McCarthy through programs and scholarship that promote public service and the common good. This includes undergraduate community-engagement learning, faculty and university-wide development, graduate engagement, and community partnerships at both the local and global level. We are excited to share our 2017 annual report…

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…

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…

Making Every USF Student a Voter

Professor David Donahue is the director of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good and a professor of education at USF’s School of Education. Making every student a voter is the goal of USF Votes, the McCarthy Center’s newest initiative to register 100% of all eligible USF students, educate them…

Global Privett Scholars Summer Update

The 2017 Global Privett Scholars are spending the summer in Bolivia and Argentina working on community-based sustainable development projects. Our students are cultivating an appreciation for their responsibilities as global citizens and developing personal skills, professional competencies, and values consistent with the mission of the University of San Francisco. Scholars in Cochabamba, Bolivia Gio…

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…