S.F. partners with Black colleges on new summer programs. Can it bring a satellite campus to downtown?
Mayor London Breed speaks Friday during a convening of Black 2 San Francisco, an initiative led by the city’s Human Rights Commission. The program will bring historically Black colleges and universities to the city for educational sessions this summer.
Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle
By Roland Li
February 2, 2024
San Francisco is partnering with historically Black colleges and universities to bring educational programs to the city this summer as local leaders seek to attract a permanent satellite campus to help revitalize downtown.
The schools, known as HBCUs, will use existing student housing from the University of San Francisco and classroom space from San Francisco State University for the summer programs. Topics will include science, math, environmental justice and journalism. A 20-student financial tech accelerator program and eight-student program with the Department of Police Accountability are also planned. UCSF will also work with Black colleges and universities on mental health mentoring, training and internships.
The list of schools involved hasn’t been finalized, but the city is in talks with Charles R. Drew University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, Morris Brown College, Tuskegee University and the University of the District of Columbia. Some college representatives attended an event Friday at the War Memorial Performing Arts Center that was focused on the effort, with city departments and Bay Area tech companies also in attendance to tout the city’s powerhouse economy and educational opportunities.
The city’s Human Rights Commission, which focuses on anti-discrimination efforts and racial equity, is leading the effort, called “Black 2 San Francisco.”
“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,” said Sheryl Davis, executive director of the commission, in a statement.
City officials hope bringing a permanent campus to downtown would help inject new energy and residents to the area, which has been hit hard by remote work. More than a third of the city’s office space is vacant, a record high. However, there are no HBCUs west of Texas, and San Francisco real estate costs remain some of the highest in the country, even after receding during the pandemic.
“In San Francisco, we are working to build partnerships that strengthen our leadership as a center of education, innovation and opportunity,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “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.”
Separately, the University of California and UC Berkeley are in talks with the city about a potential new campus.
San Francisco has a fraught history when it comes to its Black community. A government redevelopment plan in the 1960s bulldozed swaths of the historically Black Fillmore and Western Addition district, where Breed grew up. The city’s Black population dwindled from almost 11% of residents in 1990 to around 5.7% today, according to census data.
Breed’s budget cuts last year removed funding for the city’s controversial plan to study reparations for Black residents who were victims of racist policies. Meanwhile, a separate state effort on potential reparations is moving forward.
Advocates from the private and public sectors touted the city’s progressive values and diversity — which helped it attract a Black Nurses conference moving out of Florida in July — and tech dominance at Friday’s event, urging HBCUs to come to San Francisco.
A representative from LinkedIn said investing and expanding in the region was a chance for future students to “shape the next frontier of technology.”
“The answer is, ‘You’ve got to say yes,’ ” he said. “You have to come to (Silicon) Valley.”
Reach Roland Li: roland.li@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @rolandlisf