San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed will join City and business leaders, and community stakeholders to announce new efforts to bring Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to San Francisco’s Downtown.
Black 2 San Francisco (B2SF), an initiative led by the Human Rights Commission (HRC), will begin hosting HBCU programming this summer in San Francisco. Long-term, the goal of the initiative is to launch a satellite campus partnership with several HBCUs, including a physical location and a full suite of academic and professional programming. Preliminary work has focused on cultivating a network of sponsors and collaborators.
As part of this initiative, beginning this summer, the University of San Francisco (USF) will provide student housing accommodations, San Francisco State University (SFSU) will contribute by offering space for classrooms, and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) is partnering with HBCUs to expand mental health mentoring, training and internships.
This part of a broad strategy that Mayor Breed and City leaders have been undertaking with academic institutions, including the University of California, to explore ways to utilize vacancies and available space in the Downtown area to incorporate academic campuses, offices and student housing as part of her efforts to revitalize the City’s economic core.
"In San Francisco, we are working to build partnerships that strengthen our leadership as a center of education, innovation, and opportunity,” said Mayor London Breed. “By bringing HBCUs to our City, we can not only create a connection to empower our next generation of leaders, but we can also contribute to the revitalization of our City. I want to thank all of our private sector supporters, as well as USF, UCSF, and SFSU for their partnership in this work and continued commitment to San Francisco’s future.”
"I'm honored and grateful to see this convening coming together today," said Dr. Sheryl Davis, executive director, San Francisco Human Rights Commission. "After many years of planning, and months of seeding and working to create meaningful partnerships, all the stakeholders are together to explore how we can connect San Francisco to the incredible talent that has historically been cultivated and supported by HBCUs. Our local higher education partners have been actively involved and are central to this project. These efforts have been a long time coming from both community conversations to design the Dream Keeper Initiative and recommendations from the Reparations Advisory committee. I am heartened to see where the work goes from here."
The convening today at the War Memorial Veterans Building will explore how San Francisco can accommodate HBCUs academic goals with Satellite campus concepts, engage San Francisco partners on immediate internship opportunities for HBCU students, and foster partnerships that work toward shared goals on economic and social justice. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about the importance HBCUs will play in the future of the City and what plans are moving forward.
Additionally, City departments including the City Attorney’s Office, Department of Environment, San Francisco Unified School District, Office of Economic Workforce and Development, and the Department of Police Accountability will have the opportunity to provide information about their partnership ideas, panels, and participate in collaborative roundtables and networking opportunities.
The Program runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Taube Theater at the War Memorial Veterans Building, with a break for lunch that will take place at the Fillmore Heritage Center. As part of the day’s programming featuring a number of speakers and panels throughout the day, Mayor London N. Breed will provide remarks at 10:00a.m. The event is open to press. Please RSVP at mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org
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