USF competes in the NCAA's Division I and is a charter member of the West Coast Conference, along with local rivals Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College of California. Sports offered are men’s and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, as well as men’s baseball and women's volleyball. USF has won 12 NCAA championships, 1 NIT championships, and 42 WCC championships.USF’s mascot is the Don and its colors are green and gold.

History

Athletics at USF dates back to its founding in 1855, when founder Anthony Maraschi, S.J. organized ball games as recreation for the first students. However, intercollegiate competition only dates back to 1907, when then St. Ignatius College began playing organized baseball,basketball, and rugby against other local colleges and high schools. Rivalries with neighboring Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College of California have their origins in this early period.

1951 USF Dons Football Team

The 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team, coached by Joe Kuharich, went undefeated, with a record of 9-0, and the team produced ten future NFL players (Ollie Matson, Gino Marchetti, Bob St. Clair, Dick Stanfel, Ed Brown, Lou Stephens, Burl Toler, Joe Scudero, Roy Barni, Mike Mergen, Merrill Peacock, and Ralph Thomas). Five became NFL Pro-Bowlers, and Gino Marchetti, Ollie Matson, and Bob St. Clair later were inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame—a record for one college team. The team also had another first; Burl Toler became the first African American official in the NFL.Future NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle played a role as the Dons' Athletic Publicist. At the height of their success, the team experienced one of the greatest snubs in college football history. Due to the team having two African-American star players, Ollie Matson and Burl Toler, they were not invited to play in any of the college football bowl games hosted by the SEC (Southern Conference). This resulted in the team being invited to the Orange Bowl without Toler and Matson. The team refused the invitation. Guard Dick Columbini said "'No, we're not going to leave ‘em at home’ ... ‘We're going to play with ‘em or we’re not going to play.’"As a result of the team's refusal to play in the Orange Bowl, the USF Athletic Department was forced to drop its football program in 1952, due to a deficit in department funds.

Basketball

USF is best known for its men's basketball program. The men's team won three national championships: the 1949 NIT Championship, with Don Lofgran as MVP, and the 1955 and 1956 NCAA National Championships, going undefeated in the 1956 season. Led by NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, the 1956 Dons became the first undefeated team to win a national championship, winning a then-record 60 games in a row from 1954 to 1956 before losing an exhibition game to the USA Men's Olympic Basketball team. Also of note, the 1954-1955 USF basketball teams became the first major college or university basketball team to win a national title with three African American starters (Russell, Jones, and Hal Perry).

On December 26, 2007, the university hired 798-win coach Eddie Sutton to replace Jessie Evans. Sutton got his 800th career win as a college basketball head coach when the Dons beat Pepperdine, 85-82.

On April 18, 2008, USF announced the hiring of Rex Walters, former coach of Florida Atlantic University, as the new men's basketball coach, succeeding Eddie Sutton.Walters is an NBA veteran, originally the 16th overall pick by the New Jersey Nets in the 1993 NBA Draft.

Soccer

The soccer program began at USF in 1931, from the beginning it has been a successful program, winning five titles from 1932–1936, much of this was because of the All-American team captain Gus Donoghue who later returned to the University as the head coach in 1946, he won several titles, including a co-championship with Penn State in 1949. After his retirement in 1960 the programs successes went on under alumnus, All American and Holocaust survivor Stephen Negoesco, who played under Donoghue in the 50's. He coached the team from 1962 to 2000 and led the team to 540 wins and four national championships (1966, 1975, 1976, 1980). Negoesco was later inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003 after having won more victories with his team than any other coach in the history of intercollegiate soccer competition in the United States. Under Negoesco's successor, alumnus Erik Visser, the men's team earned the 2004, 2005 and 2008 WCC titles.

USF is home to over 90 clubs and organizations including academic/professional, governance, cultural, service, social, political, athletic and special interest. The missions and goals of USF's student clubs and organizations are to provide programs and services that support students' leadership development and promote student engagement in co-curricular activities.

Associated Students of the University of San Francisco (ASUSF) Senate is the student body governance organization responsible for organizing major campus events, voicing student concern and reviewing the ASUSF budget.

USF's professional and academic organizations include chapters of many national and international groups including the Professional Business Fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, the Lambda Iota Tau English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta, Jesuit Honor Society Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, National Political Science Honor Society Pi Sigma Alpha, Biological Honor Society Tri Beta, Accounting and Finance Honor Society Beta Alpha Psi and Psychology Honor Society Psi Chi.

Professional organizations include the Family Business Association, USF Pre-Dental Society, Hospitality Management Association, the Nursing Students Association and the Entrepreneurship Club.

Religious and spiritual organizations on campus include the Muslim Student Union, the USF chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the USF Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

USF leisure and hobby organizations include a chapter of national organization Best Buddies as well as Outdoors and Environmental Education Club, USF Queer Alliance, San Quentin TRUST Alliance, Knitting for Neighbors, Back to the Roots, Surf and Skate Club, and the Animation Comics and Video Games (ACV) Club. Cultural and multicultural organizations around campus serve international students, Indian students, Black students, Latin American students and Hawaiian Students. There are also groups specifically for women of color and Latina women.

Social justice clubs on campus include chapters of Amnesty International, School of the Americas Watch, Up 'til Dawn and Invisible Children. There is also a Politics Society, Philosophy Club, Women in Media Club and Women in Science Club.

Student-produced media

The San Francisco Foghorn is the official student weekly newspaper of the University of San Francisco and is sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of San Francisco (ASUSF). The Foghorn was founded in 1926, and was first called The Ignatian. In the 1930s, members of The Ignation changed its name to "San Francisco Foghorn" to reflect the University's decision to change its name from St. Ignatius College to the University of San Francisco. The Foghorn has played a significant role on campus throughout the years, and has some notable alumni—from the likes of Pierre Salinger, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and Press Secretary for President John F. Kennedy, to well-known author and historian Kevin Starr, and Leo T. McCarthy, one-time California Lieutenant Governor. The Foghorn gained national recognition in 1961, when the American Newspaper Publishers Association awarded it with a "Pacemaker Award". The Foghorn has been honored by the Associated Collegiate Press which deemed it "College Paper of the Year" in 1998.

USF has a radio station, KUSF, which broadcasts online. The station had broadcast on radio frequency 90.3 FM since 1977, until the station's license was sold by the University on January 18, 2011.The University announced that they had sold KUSF's license to a Southern California based classical radio station for $3.75 million; the next day, a protest was held by student and community DJs and supporters against the newly proposed online-only format. KUSF has garnered international attention for its diverse musical programming, which varies from rock to hip hop to world music. KUSF is the recipient of numerous awards, including many public service awards for the station's long-running weekly community service series. USF's other radio station, KDNZ, is student-run and-programmed.

The University of San Francisco has one television station, USFtv , which is broadcast on Channel 35 in the dormitories and around campus. The station was founded in 2006, and is entirely student-run. The station features a variety of content, including news, sports, cultural programming. In 2008 USFtv students collaborated with Wyclef Jean to create a music video for his song, "If I Was President".

The Ignatian is USF's annual "literary magazine" that is published every spring. It has traditionally printed a wide array of different content, running from philosophical pieces to personal essays, short fiction, poetry, and photography. Its most recent volume (volume 21) was released on May 2, 2009.

Performing arts

USF has numerous student clubs for performing arts including a theater group (College Players), an unfunded, two-time Golden Gate Regional winning improvisational team (Awkward Silence), choir (ASUSF voices), contemporary mass ensemble and dance program that entails social justice.

The College Players, founded in 1863, is the oldest student-run theater group west of the Mississippi and the second oldest in the United States. Their annual production of The Vagina Monologues distributes 100 percent of the show's proceeds to women charities around the Bay Area.

ASUSF voices is a collaboration between the associated students of USF and the Performing Arts Department. It contains a variety of choral ensembles including jazz and other popular vocal styles.The USF Contemporary Mass Ensemble is a group of collective USF alumni, either vocal or instrumental, that perform during Mass every Sunday in St. Ignatius Church.

The USF dance program is affiliated with the Performing Arts and Social Justice Major. Students can enroll in tradition and modern dance classes. Students are allowed to participate in the USF Dance Ensemble, which provides the opportunity for students to work with professional and student choreographers.