Forty Units Reserved in Loyola Village
Forty faculty and staff put their names on a first-round reservation list for 136 available units in Loyola Village, the new faculty and staff housing development along Anza Street. Of those, 16 are prospective buyers, said Kathleen Freitag, director of the development.
Weather and construction-related delays have moved the development’s estimated completion date to mid-April. Tours of completed, furnished units should begin before then, weather permitting, she added.
A rain-soaked access road delayed hillside grading and made reaching the site difficult although construction continued. Meanwhile, the village has generated interest both inside and outside the university. The development was featured in a Dec. 19 in the San Francisco Chronicle article as an example of affordable housing in an otherwise inflated, obstacle-riddled market.
Units are priced at $390 per square foot compared to the market average of $460-$480 per square foot for similar new housing in an equally desireable neighborhood. Prices start at $190,000 for a studio. Rents are priced at approximately 25 percent below market value, Freitag said.
Julio Moreno, assistant professor of history, said he is hoping to buy one of the village’s two-bedroom townhouses but it will be a challenge.
“New units in the area would be much more expensive,” Moreno said. “[The village] is doing a lot to make housing affordable to faculty but my fiancée and I are going to have a two-income family and we’re still going to be stretched [by mortgage payments.]”
Loyola Village was in development for the last 10 years. The construction, which was originally planned for completion by January, has suffered several setbacks because of the wet weather.
700 Walk at Winter Commencement
More than 700 students participated in the University of San Francisco’s winter commencement. Approximately 1,000 students officially finished their degrees during the summer and fall terms, said Anne Marie Nowak, database coordinator for academic services. That number is about equal to the number that graduated at the same time last year. Although names are still being added to the list of graduates as last-minute fines and class requirement issues are worked out, the most recent figures show 192 students graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences, 227 from the School of Business and Management, 139 from the School of Education, 42 from the School of Nursing, and 382 from the College of Professional Studies. There were 505 graduate-level students who graduated and 477 undergraduate students.
Winter Issue of Peace Review Published
The winter issue of Peace Review, the transnational quarterly edited by University of San Francisco faculty, came out in December. The issue’s theme, “The Death Penalty,” is considered in articles ranging from “Execution as Torture” by Vittorio Bufacchi and Laura Fairrie to “The Execution of Timothy McVeigh as Religious Sacrifice” by Lonnie Valentine. University of San Francisco Law Professors Steven Shatz and Connie de la Vega edited the issue.
Classical Values Subject of New Davies Forum
Hoping to show how antiquity can instruct the modern age, History Professor Martin Claussen has organized a new Davies Forum around the theme “Classical Values and the Modern World.” The series will feature C. Jan Swearingen of Texas A&M University on “Classical Education in America;” Marcia Colish, formerly of Oberlin College, on “The Transformation of Classical Ethics;” David Konstan of Brown University on “Emotions in Antiquity & Today;” Mary Beard of Cambridge University on “The Parthenon;” and Erich Guren of UC Berkeley on “Ethnicity.”
“At universities across the country, the classics are seen as irrelevant. I thought I might have a class where we could talk about how they are relevant and bring them back,” Claussen said.
The lectures will be presented around campus on Feb. 21 and 26, March 5 and 19, and April 3.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and African American History Celebrated
 A campus-wide candlelight march (pictured at left), titled “This Little Light of Mine,” was held Jan. 24 to honor the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Also that day a dialogue on “Building African American Cultural Institutions” was presented in Hayes-Healy residence hall. Panelists included Rick Moss, director of the African American Museum and Library.
In February, the University of San Francisco’s office of multicultural and international student services is overseeing a series of events in honor of African American History Month in February. Part of a national commemoration titled “The Color Line Revisited,” the events spotlight the culture and contributions of African Americans. The USF community is invited to attend the following:
Each Monday in February—Contemporary issues lecture series in Hayes-Healy Formal Lounge, 6-8 p.m.
Feb. 1—Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, Gershwin Theater 7:30 p.m., $20 general, $10 students.
Feb. 1-2—Homecoming Week, USF welcomes visiting Bay Area Catholic elementary schools.
Feb. 5—Bamboozled, a film by Spike Lee, sponsored by the student group the Source, showing in the Faculty Lounge at 8 p.m.
Feb. 7—Expressions: The Power of the Spoken Word, presented by the Black Student Union, 7:30-10 p.m. in Crossroads Cafe.
Feb. 21—Gospelfest 10th Anniversary. Gospel Performances at Gershwin Theater, 7:15 p.m. Admission is free.
Feb. 21—Professors James Taylor of the University of San Francisco and Steven Gelb from the University of San Diego will discuss the politics of leadership as displayed by Martin Luther King, Jr. at a forum, free and open to all USF and community guests. The event will be held in the School of Education from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Feb. 28—Cultural Dinner hosted by the Black Student Union. McLaren 252 at 6:30 p.m. For more information, please call (415) 422-2654. More information may also be found online at www.usfca.edu/MCISS.
McLaren Partners with Korean School
Signing its second global partnership in two months, USF’s Graduate School of Management officially founded an exchange program with the top-ranked Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Seoul, Korea. Every winter, MBA students in USF’s executive education program will have the option of being matched with a Korean business executive for a two-week trip in Asia. A contingent of Korean students will then come to USF for one month in the summer. The first agreement, in partnership with Helia Business School in Helsinki, Finland, was signed in December. That agreement is similar to the one with KAIST. Both agreements were in negotiations since last summer, said Salvador Aceves, associate dean for executive education at the business school. “Recognizing the reconfiguration of local economies in Europe and the importance of the Americas and our Pacific Rim position, these agreements continue to build our global network for our students,” Aceves said.
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San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada (center) discussed inter-religious cooperation in staunching violence at a panel discussion to commemorate the Interfaith & Ecumenical Day of Prayer for World Peace on Jan. 24. Imam Abu Qadir Al-Amin of the San Francisco Muslim Community Center (left) and James Fredericks, S.J., of Loyola Marymount University were also panelists.
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USF Hosts Wide-Ranging Religious Dialogues
A dialogue between representatives of five different faiths was held at USF on Jan. 24 as part of an Interfaith & Ecumenical Day of Prayer for World Peace called for by Pope John Paul II. San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada was a panelist, along with USF Theology Professor Francis Buckley, S.J., Imam Abu Qadir Al-Amin of the San Francisco Muslim Community Center, Rabbi Douglas Kahn of the San Francisco Board of Rabbis, Jean Molesky-Poz, assistant professor in theology at USF and an expert on Mayan religious practices, and John Nelson, a USF assistant theology professor with an interest in Buddhism. Speakers focused on the unifying influence of religion and called on people of all faiths to work together to quell world violence. “In a world fraught with injustice and distrust, real dialogue will invoke action between us and our allies,” Fr. Buckley said. Molesky-Poz discussed how her study of Mayan religion has helped her understand her own Christianity. “I was invited into a native woman’s home and she had a picture of Jesus on the wall. She said ‘I put up the picture of Jesus because he was humble, he spoke the word of God, and he healed others. And that’s what I’m called to do.’” To read some of the panelists’ comments in full, please see the web site: www.usfca.edu/GOODNEWS.
On Jan. 28, USF hosted His Grace Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain as part of the annual Paul Wattson Lecture. The Archbishop was featured in three panel discussions about intercommunion between Orthodox and Roman Catholic clergy. In the afternoon, approximately 80 Bay Area religious leaders and clergy attended the discussion. In the evening, more than 200 people were present in the Pacific Rim room to hear him speak.
Annual Service and Merit Awards
Nominations for the university’s 26th Annual Service and Merit Awards are now being accepted by Human Resources. The deadline for merit award nominations is Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. Individuals nominated for merit awards must exhibit a high degree of professionalism and dedication to the principles and goals of USF. Teams nominated for the merit award should exhibit teamwork, group trust and cohesion, and strong decision-making and problem-solving skills. Service awards—given to employees at every fifth year of service and to groups at every third year—will also be given at the award reception on Wednesday, May 8 at McLaren 250, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
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