USF in the SF Community

USF’s commitment to community service is embedded in the fabric of our campus culture.

For over 150 years, the University of San Francisco has served the citizens of San Francisco and enriched the lives of thousands of people. From educating SF mayors and police chiefs, to supporting computer labs in the Tenderloin, to working at local schools and food banks, to building neighborhood gardens, USF has a rich history of giving back to the San Francisco community.

Through community partnerships, the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good helps nonprofits collaborate with USF faculty to develop Service Learning opportunities, allowing USF students to apply what they have learned in the classroom while serving throughout the community.

NEN Award for Best Community Project

Faculty and students from the Architecture and Community Design Outreach Program worked with the City of San Francisco and the community to design and construct the Bridgeview Teaching and Learning Garden in San Francisco Hunters-Point area. The project won the City’s 2011 NEN award for Best Green Community Project, as well as educated community members in organic gardening skills and helped beautify the neighborhood.

During any given academic year, 6,000 or more undergraduate and graduate students — more than half of our student body — are involved in community services somewhere in San Francisco. In 2011, USF students engaged in 331,352 hours of community service.