USF and Charles University Celebrate 20-Year Partnership

“We have given so much to each other and learned so much from each other over the past 20 years,” Dean Jeffrey Brand said at an event in Prague to commemorate the anniversary. “How many USF students have walked these beautiful streets, sat in the classrooms of one of the great law schools in the world, and soaked up knowledge from Czech and U.S. professors alike?”

USF law students participating in the Summer Study Abroad program in Prague visit Charles University for five weeks, where they study the developing legal systems of Central European countries emerging from Soviet domination and their preparations for membership in the European Union.

Approximately 20 students from the Czech Republic have studied for Master of Laws’ degrees at the University of San Francisco. Legal scholars from Charles University have also taught as visiting faculty members at the USF School of Law, including Vojtech Cepl, the principal draftsperson of the Czech Republic Constitution and a former justice of the Czech Constitutional Court.

“The past 20 years have been a remarkable time in the history of the Czech Republic, all of Europe, and the world,” Brand said. “Because of our partnership, the USF family has been given a unique perch from which to view these events—in Charles’ classrooms, on Prague’s streets, and through the eyes and ears of the great and courageous professors like Voita Cepl and Tony Kerner. For that, we are forever grateful.”