University of San Francisco

Miscellaneous

• Because of its location on one of San Francisco's major hills, USF's nickname is "The Hilltop." The present university is built on the site of several former cemeteries.
• Reflecting its close historical ties with San Francisco, the university's motto is Pro Urbe et Universitate.
• Anthony Maraschi, S.J., the university's first president, was also a professor and the college's treasurer, and served as Saint Ignatius Church's first pastor.
• In 1871, Joseph Neri S.J., professor of natural philosophy, displayed an electric arc light from the Market Street church. Five years later, Neri would illuminate Market Street with electric lamps for the centennial of American independence.
• The College Players, USF's student theater group, is the oldest continuous theater group operating west of the Mississippi River and the second oldest in the United States.
• The first ever Flash mob computing event took place at USF on April 7, 2004.
• Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was awarded an honorary doctorate from USF on November 18, 2004.
• USF maintains formal student exchange programs with several foreign universities, notably Blackfriars at the University of Oxford, Sophia University in Japan, Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico, and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.
• As chairperson of the Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust's board of trustees, university chancellor John Lo Schiavo, S.J. is the de jure CEO of the Pabst Brewing Company.