Dear Members of the USF Community,
We awoke this morning to news that the nation has elected a new president. Voters have also decided on a number of other officeholders and on many ballot measures that will touch our lives in different ways. I doubt that anyone is fully satisfied with the election results, and many of us may feel strong disappointment and anxiety. We need to acknowledge these feelings in our own hearts and listen tenderly to our families, friends, and colleagues as they sort through their own thoughts and their varying levels of satisfaction or hurt in the wake of a very divisive campaign season.
I assure you that university leadership, faculty, and staff members are committed to continuing to create spaces on campus that encourage discussion, reflection, and discernment about how specific groups and communities are affected and impacted by events like this election. Please look out for a message from the Leo T. McCarthy Center this afternoon to learn more about upcoming events and opportunities to come together.
May we engage each other based on our shared values and the Jesuit ideals that undergird our community and shape the educational project we have here at USF: inclusivity, respect for diversity, defense of human dignity, intellectual rigor in our social analysis, and a commitment to work for justice and peace for all.
Let us keep foremost in our thoughts the fact that we are a mission-driven enterprise, educating hearts and minds to fashion a more just, humane, and sustainable world.
This moment in our history challenges us to recommit to the long project that is the University of San Francisco. We pray that as a community we recognize that we need each other — and we are blessed to have each other — as companions on the journey to a better future.
Sincerely,
Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J.
President