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City, civic and education leaders joined together Wednesday to officially open the University of San Francisco's new Pleasanton campus.

Classes are already in session at the school, which is located at 6120 Stoneridge Mall Road,

Desiree Shaw, Director of the new Pleasanton campus, and the Rev. Stephen A. Privett, the university's president, led the noontime celebration in the main assembly room of the spacious office building complex.

"We like to think of this facility as an embassy or a consulate of our main campus in San Francisco," Privett said. "Here you get the best of everything. You get a USF education and no fog."

Shaw welcomed the mayors from Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin and Martinez, who attended the official opening ceremony, as well as representatives from the state Assembly and Senate and the U.S. Congress.

"We have a 30-year history of serving the academic and professional development needs of our Tri-Valley and East Bay communities," Shaw said. "Our students live and work in the five surrounding counties of Solano, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus. We are honored to have the support of our elected officials representing those areas."

Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, a graduate of USF, said she was especially pleased to welcome her alma mater to Pleasanton.

"Little did I know way back when as a mother of three small children when I went back to school to get my degree that someday I would be the city's mayor thanking USF for bringing its campus to Pleasanton," she said.

In her remarks, Shaw added: "We are excited about the move and the opportunity to expand our program offerings and host workshops and educational seminars for the community-at-large."

The new campus has six SMART classrooms with integrated networking, A/V equipment and wireless Internet. The professionally staffed library and computer lab offer assistance to students and faculty during the week and on Saturdays. Administrative and advising offices, a multipurpose room, student lounges, private faculty offices and a faculty lounge are all designed to provide a comfortable learning environment.

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