San Francisco

The West Coast CTY-CLI program has moved to Berkeley, CA, from 2010 on.

Overview

San Francisco State University is at the southern end of San Francisco city/county limits, just one mile from the Pacific Ocean. The weather is unusually cold throughout the summer. The weather is always 50 degrees and cloudy, but if you go further inland, the sun somehow manages to shine for a few hours. On the upside, it never actually rains (just some mist from fog), it's not humid, and you'll never need air conditioning. The biggest tease is that there is a Subway on campus, but it is just outside of what is considered In Bounds.

CTY opened its Civic Leadership Institute for students entering grades 10-12 during second session at San Francisco State University in the summer of 2006. CLI, as administrators called it, was run by the Civic Education Project based out of the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. In 2007, its second summer, CTY-CLI hosted approximately 60 students and 20 staff.

Students are divided into sections, each containing approximately 15 students, to engage in a course called "Civic Engagement and Social Issues." In this service-learning oriented course, students delved into issues of the day, such as homelessness and poverty, as well as explored models for social change and problem solving. Students also participated in five field experiences.

As is the case with several other CTY sites, the cafeteria food is not very good. Students are advised to budget their spending money accordingly on food off-site.

Mary Park Hall

Mary Park Hall is a six-story "urbane" dorm used by CTY. It is one of two traditional dorms on the campus and it houses freshmen during the school year. Each room is double-occupancy and is carpeted and furnished with a closets, one cable TV jack, dressers, extra long twin beds, and desks and chairs. Bathrooms are in every wing of each floor and there is at least one lounge.

Activities

Student activities tend to be centered around Mary Park Hall, the dining hall, and the Village steps.

The afternoon activity block is two hours long. Students have the option of signing out to wander around the campus with a buddy, signing in to stay in the dorm, or signing up to participate in activities such as Frisbee.

There are off-campus adventures as well. In 2007, students could sign up to go visit the San Francisco Zoo and view a movie in the West Portal District.

Some activities have a distinct social justice focus.