“We look forward to building a relationship with the new leadership team, centering faculty voices so that we can build an education for our students that is fit for leaders in the 21st century,” she said in an email to KQED.”
University cabinet members will serve on the transition team, overseeing day-to-day operations. When Fitzgerald was elected in 2014, his tenure symbolized a new focus on social justice for USF, a campus known for its diverse student body.
In recent years, major domestic and international conflicts have played out on campus. When private universities were hurt by a pandemic-driven decline in tuition and enrollment, USF suffered from inflation and other financial strains.
In June 2023, Fitzgerald spoke out against a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring private universities from considering race in admissions, calling the ruling disturbing in an interview with KQED.
When the USF campus was rocked by protests over the Israel-Hamas war earlier this year, Fitzgerald joined other universities in banning encampments. In a statement sent to the community, Fitzgerald said the university would work to establish a task force to review the school’s investment policies, a step toward student demand for the university to divest from Israeli companies or those who profit from the Israel-Hamas war.
Susu Steyteyieh, a Palestinian student organizer, said the student body was stunned by Fitzgerald’s resignation.
“It’s been a bit hectic,” Steyteyieh said. “We’ve been talking and discussing.”
Steyteyieh said she interacted with Fitzgerald, whom she calls Father Fitz when he met with encampment organizers for open bargaining in May. A few weeks after their meeting, Steyteyieh and other students were placed under a brief suspension.
Steyteyieh hopes that the school’s next leader is able to keep in mind that USF serves students “from different backgrounds and different lived experiences.”
“That’s really the core of USF,” she said. “To hold those values close — that’s the biggest thing.”
