Dr. Fauci addresses USF graduates: 'Generation that can bring us together'

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, addressed graduates Friday at the University of San Francisco.

"You are the generation that can bring us together. You have been trained at an outstanding institution, and you have the right stuff to make it happen," Fauci said.

During his speech, Fauci, who helped lead the country through the COVID pandemic, urged graduates to create the change they want to see in society.

A sentiment Fauci reiterated during our one-on-one interview with him following the ceremony.

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"There is an anti-science flavor in this country that was a little bit many years ago but now is amplified by social media, becoming really a problem," he said.

During his speech, Fauci also mentioned his love for the Bay Area.

A connection, the doctor says, is both personal and professional.

"I have a special affinity for the Bay Area. It goes back to the early 1980s," Fauci said.

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That affinity stems from Fauci's time helping to lead the medical community's fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Back then, San Francisco's Castro neighborhood was one of the disease's epicenters.

"I got very much involved with my colleagues here at San Francisco General Hospital, who have been my colleagues and friends for decades now working on the very first cases during those very painful years," Fauci said.

During our conversation, Fauci also highlighted the importance of things like vaccination.

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2025 has seen one of the worst measles outbreaks nationwide in years.

A reality, Fauci believes, is driven at least in part by rising vaccine skepticism.

All the more reason, he says, the young graduates need to use their education to help make the world a little bit better.

"We need people like the students I addressed today not to accept that normalization of untruths, but to push back on it.... They're the best and the brightest of what we have. The future is in their hands, it's not in my hands," Fauci said.