by George Elbaum

This was my 6^th time speaking at the University of San Francisco (USF), a Jesuit Catholic university.  Founded in 1855, USF was the city’s first university, and it is the third oldest institution for higher learning in California.  Its student body numbers approximately 10,600, with 62% undergraduates and 38% postgraduates, and its faculty numbers approximately 1,200, of which 41% are full-time and 59% are part-time, or adjunct.  Religious and spiritual organizations on campus include the Muslim Student Union, the USF chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the USF Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

My talk at USF this year was for 20 students in an undergraduate course entitled Holocaust and Genocide, which is one of the selective subjects in USF’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies.  It was organized by its teacher Dr. Alexis Herr, with my involvement initiated by Sadie Simon and finalized by Patrick Dunne of the JFCS Holocaust Center.