 Lutheran Minister Finds Home Among Jesuits
In the 1960s, a lutheran minister and a jewish rabbi taught a course titled "Jesus the Jew” at the Jesuit-led University of San Francisco to a group of students that included Muslims and Buddhists.
For John Elliott, the Lutheran minister, the class epitomized the values and scholarship at the heart of the University then and now. “Jesus the Jew,” which attracted media attention for its novelty, was one of many uniquely ecumenical and interdisciplinary experiences Elliott had during his years at USF. The opportunity to create these experiences is precisely what brought Elliott to the USF theology department, where he was the only non-Jesuit for many years. Elliott recently retired after 34 years at USF.
“The goal of the course,” Elliott said, “was to say Jesus was Jewish and to understand Jesus you have to understand Jewish culture. Today it sounds benign, but back then nobody was teaching such a course.”
Elliott was ahead of his time in his ecumenical work in the late '60s and in the '70s, said Daniel Kendall, S.J., chair of the USF theology department.
“He was the first non-Catholic to teach in the USF theology department, and he and the department were very much pioneers at that time,” Fr. Kendall said.
During the height of the Vietnam War, Elliott again broke new ground by collaborating with a Jesuit member of the theology department to cancel classes for a day to hold a teach-in and a Mass at St. Ignatius Church.
“Four of us closed the University down and had a teach-in here on campus,” he said. “One of the Jesuits and I even led the Mass together that day. It was really revolutionary.”
Prior to joining USF in 1967, Elliott taught at a Lutheran seminary in St. Louis. While the seminary focused strictly on theology, Elliott was interested in the interplay of theology with technology, culture, and politics. USF provided the “golden opportunity” to explore theology from these perspectives, he said.
“So I decided to check out the Jesuits and let the Jesuits check me out, and see what develops,” he said.
What did develop was more than 30 years of intellectual collaboration, development, and mutual challenge between Elliott and USF faculty. His fellow professor and self-proclaimed “fan” is Francis Buckley, S.J., who was on the committee that hired Elliott.
“He had an enormous impact here,” Fr. Buckley said. “You have to understand what kind of a scholar he is. It's like having a Nobel Prize winner on the faculty. He was the first Lutheran biblical scholar ever to teach at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He showed students the value of different approaches to problems so they could learn from other people.”
The crown jewel of Elliott's scholarship is a book that has become the definitive resource on the first letter of Peter in the New Testament, 1 Peter: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
“This book is a monumental work of scholarship,” said Stanley Nel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Elliott is the first non-Catholic with the longest full appointment to the theology department of a U.S. Jesuit university. He was also the first non-Catholic elected to the executive board of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, where he served from 1971 to 1973.
Although initially he was mistakenly called “Fr. Elliott” by students and faculty alike, his standing as the only non-Jesuit in the department allowed him to help establish the USF theology department as progressively ecumenical, Fr. Buckley said.
“Everybody saw that I was as Catholic as they were, and I was accepted as a valid teacher of theology in the department,” Elliott said. “USF's trust in me as a Lutheran not to teach heresy but theology compatible with Roman Catholic doctrine, is striking.”
Elliott retired this year to teach in a new interdisciplinary program at the University of Bologna in Italy. He will teach seminars as a visiting professor at that university for the next three years.
Faculty to Share Service Learning Experiences at Nov. 9 Panel
During a panel discussion Nov. 9, four faculty members will share their personal trials and triumphs of implementing service learning into their courses. The faculty are all recipients of the USF Syllabus Development Fellowship for Service Learning in fall 2000.
The panel is designed to help faculty who teach, or are interested in teaching service learning courses. The discussion is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to noon in UC 308. The faculty, and the courses they developed with the fellowships, are as follows:
Geraldine Lauro, Exercise and Sport Science
Elementary School Physical Education Curriculum and Instruction
This revised course offered students opportunities to get practical experience teaching in a culturally diverse school while providing local public elementary schools with needed assistance in physical education curriculum.
Yoko Arisaka, Philosophy
Living Ethics
In this revised course, students analyzed ethical theories by practicing them in real-world settings. For example, students reflected upon theories of equity and justice after working in a soup kitchen.
Lisa Mahon; Kathryn Evans, Expository Writing
College Writing II
This revised course aimed to develop students‘ written argument and analysis skills by using their real-life experiences in community service activities as source material.
Linda Walsh, School of Nursing
Global Issues and Community Health
As part of this new course, nursing students experienced issues in international health care by delivering health services and working with midwives in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. While Walsh will not be part of the panel, information about her experience with this service learning course will be provided.
USF Athletes Graduate Near Top of Class
The NCAA’s annual report on the graduation rates for Division 1 athletes shows University of San Francisco players are graduating well above the national average.
While Division I schools on average graduated 81 percent of their student athletes in the last 10 years, USF graduated 91 percent.
“We’re very much committed here that in the name ‘student athlete,’ the student comes first,” said Bill Nepfel, assistant athletic director and head of the department’s compliance program.
The NCAA equation tracks players on athletic scholarships who play three to four seasons for their designated school and graduate within six years. School averages are computed over the last 10 years.
“Bringing the Dark Madonna to Light” Scheduled for Oct. 27
“Bringing the Dark Madonna to Light,” a scholarly conference, art exhibition, liturgy, and multicultural celebration, will be held at the University of San Francisco on Oct. 27.
 An icon of justice and healing, the Dark Madonna in her many forms has long been a powerful symbol of liberation for the suffering, the oppressed, and the excluded. This day-long event will provide scholarly background, discussion, music, performance, and art inspired by the Dark Madonna, with a culminating liturgical celebration of vespers that shows her deep connection to Catholic tradition and her powerful relevance in the modern world.
Scholars who will examine race, religion, and culture as defined by the Dark Madonna include: China Galland, CARE/Images of Divinity Project, Graduate Theological Union; Thomas Lucas, S.J., USF; Gerard Pigeon, UC Santa Barbara; Ana Maria Pineda, R.S.M., Santa Clara University; and Jennifer Colby, CSU Monterey Bay.
The conference will be held from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Lone Mountain Conference Center; the solemn vespers of the Dark Madonna at 4 p.m. in St. Ignatius Church; and the opening of the “Contemporary Interpretations” art exhibit at 5:30 p.m. in the Thacher Gallery. The conference fee is $25 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. To register, visit the Web site at www.usfca.edu/fpa/darkmadonna or call (415) 422-5979. The solemn vespers and gallery reception are free and open to the public. For information, call Thomas Lucas, S.J. at (415) 422-5610 or Gary McDonald at (415) 422-2699. The event is sponsored by the USF Department of Fine & Performing Arts, the Images of Divinity Project/CARE, the Graduate Theological Union, the USF Jesuit Foundation, the Furth Family Foundation, the USF Multicultural Action Plan, the Office of the President, the Archive of Modern Christian Art, the St. Ignatius Institute, University Ministry, the Thacher Gallery, and St. Ignatius Parish.
150 Years Begins With Email
Written vignettes of USF history made their debut on Oct. 15 as part of the University’s upcoming 150th anniversary.
Special assistant to the president, director of institutional research, and USF history enthusiast Alan Ziajka is overseeing the project, which will document the school’s history from a modest downtown campus with 20 students its first year to a hill-topping city icon with more than 8,000 students.
The vignettes—now published via email—will eventually expand to a sesquicentennial Web page with photos and other features.
The University opened on Oct. 15, 1855 and is currently planning its sesquicentennial celebration, set to culminate in the 2005-2006 academic year.
 KUSF Named Best Station in San Francisco
USF radio station KUSF was named the best station in San Francisco by the alternative newspaper SF Weekly in September. Chosen from close to 100 city stations, KUSF was given the honor because of its distinctive, progressive programming, said Steve Runyon, the station’s general manager.
KUSF, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next spring, was honored by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in 1998 when he named April 25 “KUSF Day” in San Francisco.
Physics Department Sponsoring Annual Lecture Series
The physics department is sponsoring a five-part lecture series including talks about measuring solar system history in a gram of lunar soil and the workings of electroreceptors in sharks.
Featuring scientists from USF, the University of California, and the University of Marburg in Germany, the next colloquium in the series will be held Oct. 25 featuring Warren E. Pickett of UC Davis. Talks are held on Thursdays in Harney Science Center, Room 127, from 4:10 to 5:10 p.m. For more information, contact Horacio Camblong at (415) 422-2364 or Maureen Fisher at (415) 422-6155.
Family Business Seminars Set
Entrepreneurs, their spouses, and their children are invited to attend a three-part program on decision making around wealth, career, and philanthropy. Called “Into the New Century: A Three-Part Exploration of Challenges that Family Businesses Will Face in the Years Ahead,” the program will counsel families on how to achieve lifestyle balance in the face of affluence, how to develop career satisfaction, and how to build a charitable legacy. Employees of family firms and career development professionals interested in helping family business clients are also invited. The program is sponsored by USF’s Family Business Resource Center.
Lectures will be followed by a mini-case study and small group discussions. The event includes a social hour, dinner, and a complimentary copy of the speaker’s book or other materials. Registration is $95 for each part or $245 for the whole program. For more information, contact the Family Business Resource Center at (415) 422-5147 or visit the center’s Web site at www.usfca.edu/fbrc.
October Outreach: “Extending Peace” Planned for Oct. 27
All USF staff, faculty, and students are invited to participate in the fifth annual October Outreach. The mission and theme of this year's event, “Extending Peace,” is focused on helping primarily Arab-American communities respond to harassment and hate crimes in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Volunteers will assemble information packets on responding to harrassment and employment discrimination and deliver them to pre-selected neighborhoods around The City. Volunteers will also have the option of again working on beautification projects in Golden Gate Park. The event will be held at 8 a.m., Oct. 27 at Crossroads Cafe in University Center.
Register for October Outreach at www.usfca.edu/cssl/com_set.htm or UC 306. Contact Kara Daillak at (415) 422-6319 for more information.
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