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Welcome Address
Spring 2008 WELCOME ADDRESS
Written to the Entering Class of 2011
By Fr. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., President, University of San Francisco
Welcome to the University of San Francisco! On behalf of the entire USF community,
I am delighted to welcome you to the most diverse Jesuit Catholic University
in the country, in the heart of San Francisco.
You are beginning a journey that began over 450 years ago with the founding
of the Society of Jesus [Jesuits] and the decision of its founder, St. Ignatius
Loyola, to open a college in Messina, Sicily. That decision launched an enterprise
that now includes a worldwide network of schools, including twenty-eight Universities
and forty-six high schools in the United States alone. Ignatius was committed
to education because, as he wrote to a colleague, the Society of Jesus hopes
by means of its work in education to pour into society competent and caring
persons in numbers large enough to leaven it for good. This ideal of educating
persons of faith, intelligence and compassion to improve society -- is as compelling
today as it was over four centuries ago and remains the driving force behind
the Jesuit educational enterprise that you are joining.
It is a fact that if the entire world were reduced to a village of a hundred
people, only one person in the village would have a college education. By virtue
of your coming to USF, you are numbered among that privileged one percent who
enjoy the benefits of a college education. What difference will your college
education make for the other ninety-nine percent? That is the central question
of Jesuit education and one that we hope you will wrestle with during your four
years here on the hilltop.
Over the course of four years at USF, you will be challenged to develop every
dimension of your humanity: intellectual, spiritual, social, aesthetic and moral.
You will not be force-fed at USF, so whether or not you capitalize on the plethora
of learning opportunities offered to you is your choice. You will be challenged
to take God seriously, at least as a question, if not as the foundation of your
life and hopes. Outstanding academic programs, such as Erasmus and the Saint
Ignatius Institute, ethnic clubs, intercollegiate and intramural athletics,
theatre and dance programs, resident life experiences, student publications
and campus government are but a small sampling of the educational buffet at
USF. The University’s location in the heart of one of the world’s
great cities extends learning opportunities almost infinitely. The City of San
Francisco pulses with the energy of its diverse populations, colorful neighborhoods,
professional athletic teams, rich theatrical and creative resources, world class
museums, jazz clubs, exotic restaurants and such historically significant sites
as Angel Island, the Presidio, and Mission Dolores -- all rich educational resources
for you to mine.
Make the most of these next four years. Let your choices be informed by your
God-given talents and passions and the needs of our world, not by the expectations
of others or the shallow allure of wealth. USF’s mission is to educate
students to change the world; help us do that. We have great hopes for you and
for what you can do to make this world a more humane and just place for all
women and men. May you prove worthy of the great tradition that you are now
a part of and responsible for.
Sincerely,
Stephen A. Privett, S.J.
President
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