President Aceves Looks Ahead to New School Year

“I am truly grateful to be here this year. I am inspired,” said Aceves, who began his tenure at USF this month.

Aceves said his hope is “we can listen to each other, and with that we can build a university that honors its legacy and is here another 170 years.”

A San Franciscan, Aceves said USF played an important role early in his life. “My junior prom was actually at the university,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience in McLaren conference center.

The president addressed several issues in a question-and-answer session with Fung, including the topic of enrollment at a time when affordability and access are concerns for families.

“We have to be very intentional and very focused so that students get to know us — so they see that we have a positive impact in their community,” Aceves said. “I want to meet these high school principals. I want them to know we’re here. That is a pathway for us to be a destination” for high school students.

Fung and Aceves invited faculty, staff, and librarians to speak at an open mic about their hopes for the new school year.

“My hope is that we continue to show up to our commitments with the city of San Francisco and that we commit more transparently to ethical public service,” said Karin Cotterman, interim director of USF’s Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good.

Brandi Lawless, president of the USF Faculty Association, said, “We are hoping to build a good relationship between the faculty and the administration.”

Finally, Aceves, the first lay president of USF, was asked, “Why USF?”

“It’s made such an impact in my life,” he said. “This is not a job, it’s a home. We do this work because it speaks to us.”