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USF President Urges Campus to Reflect, Plan for Future
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USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. kicked off the academic year at his Aug. 20 convocation.
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During his convocation speech seven years ago, USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. kicked off the academic year by stating that the university was a well-kept secret. At this year's convocation, however, he said that USF is no longer the secret it once was.
"Our light is beginning to shine around the city and our story is getting out," Fr. Privett said during his Aug. 20 convocation at the University of San Francisco Presentation Theater. "USF's remarkable growth in undergraduate applications is more than a demographic phenomenon. Our draw power in the marketplace has increased significantly."
USF's admissions acceptance rate has dropped from 82 percent to 65 percent over the last four years, incoming students' grade-point averages continue to rise, gender distribution is more balanced this year, and the number of first-generation college students hit 35 percent. Other accomplishments include extensive facility renovations this summer and the successful completion of USF's largest-ever capital campaign, topping $178 million.
These accomplishments and others provide the perfect opportunity for the university to step back and reflect on "what we are doing and how we are doing it," Fr. Privett said.
"This is a time when so much has come together at USF that we should stop and dream and plan for where we want USF to go in the decades ahead so that we move in that direction now and ultimately get where we want to go," he said.
Fr. Privett said the university comes to this effort with a clear vision and an understanding of its two key definers - its Jesuit, Catholic tradition and its global perspective.
As a Jesuit, Catholic university, USF is held to a higher standard - not only must it do everything other universities do, but it must also do more, Fr. Privett said. USF certainly must help students understand texts of all kinds as well as the world they live in, but the university must also help students to grow in moral sensitivity and judgment. This is a critical aspect that is integrated into a USF education, rather than simply added to it.
Additionally, he said, USF aims to educate students to think about things from a worldwide viewpoint. They must understand that if the world's inhabitants were reduced to a village of 100 people, 80 of them would live in poverty. USF must help students to acquire knowledge of and sensitivity to the unjust and inhumane conditions of the world.
Yet USF must do more than have students experience this. An integrating education "must capitalize upon these direct experiences to motivate students to discover where their passion, best gifts, and talents intersect with the world's needs, so that they may prepare themselves for the role they are best suited to play in the dramatic struggle for a better world," Fr. Privett said.
This approach appears to be working, judging from responses to a recent alumni survey. Among the highlights Fr. Privett mentioned:
- 90 percent of alumni attribute their commitment to public service to their USF education.
- More than 90 percent of alumni acknowledge the impact of USF on their values and personal integrity.
- More than 90 percent of alumni were well-prepared for their jobs.
- 95 percent of alumni would recommend USF to others.
- More than half of USF's students report working harder than they thought they could to meet faculty standards.
"We are about understanding the world so that we might change the world, and we cannot do one without the other," Fr. Privett said. 
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