University of San Francisco - USF Don Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 22 text:

The entry of the Jesuits into San Francisco in 1855 was most unspectacular. They arrived by cattle-boat, and came to a city in which priests were so rare as to be an object of curiosity. The Jesuit missions of southern California had long ago settled into decay; the work was new, and had no roots on which to draw save those of oast greatness and determination. The Jesuits had come to San Francisco to serve as priests, of which there were too few. They probably had no definite ideas of starting a school, but were content to do whatever work the archbishop offered them. When they did suggest starting a school, they were offered a realm of sand dunes as their site. Their first school. Saint Ignatius College, was a one-room building. Its beginning was most primitive, but it grew until it is today the University of San Francisco, the only such institution in this city. The university has always taken pride in its uniqueness; but, it may be asked, is there any real reason for this pride, or is it only unwarranted chauvinism? Is the University of San Francisco a unique institution in this city, or is it just another school which happens to be Catholic and Jesuit? All institutions of education work with facts and iniormation meir raw materials; their differences as schools lie in the manner and methods by which they interpret and affix these facts to the world outside the school walls. The uniqueness of the University of San Francisco, therefore, lies in the fact that it is a Catholic university, because its interpretation and explanation of facts are base l on Catholic philosophy. The secular institution is content to influence its student towards becoming something called a humanist. At best, the humanist learns to organize his information into a philosophy of service, and thus to heln himself and others. At worst, he is free to shape and understand facts in any manner which pleases him, and then to transfer this twisted image onto those with whom he has contact. But the Catholic school is radically different. It does not allow the student to use information to suit his fancy; it does not merely make him a “useful member of society. It teaches him, honestly and without pretense, the Christian interpretation of reality, because it knows that its interpretation is correct. The University ot San Francisco is in existence as a Christian institution, only because God; in the person of Jesus Christ, revealed the truth bv which man can obtain the goal for which he exists. The Catholic theory of education, and its Jesuit practitioners, exist only to further the work of Christ. It is this divinity of purpose which gives the University of Sail Francisco its real uniqueness. 18

Page 21 text:

the city of San Francisco 105 years after the founding of St. Ignatius College.

Page 23 text:

 St. Ignatius Church. an image of the past and a vision of the future. 19