Originally founded in 1977, and re-established in 2008, it is the only program in the world to formally link the fields of Social justice and Jewish studies.

In the mid-1970s Swig met Rabbi David Davis who, in conjunction with the Reverend John H. Elliott, a Lutheran minister and USF Theology & Religious Studies professor, had recently begun to teach a class called “Jesus the Jew” at the University of San Francisco.

[3] Davis recalls that Father Lo Schiavo called him a “one man ecumenical movement” because of his work in building bridges between the San Francisco Jewish and Christian communities.

In fact, in 2006, Hahn Tapper had been formally recognized by former President Bill Clinton for his conflict resolution work with teens and college students.

[9] The program engages students in both theoretical and practical applications of social justice and activism rooted in the Jewish traditions.

The keynote speaker for the event was Jake Tapper, CNN's host of The Lead, State of the Union, and their Chief Washington Correspondent.

Springboarding off the success of the Fortieth Anniversary, in August 2018 the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice established two new faculty positions.

[16][17] In August 2019, the program broke ground yet again, establishing the university's first Rabbi-in-Residence in the school's then 164-year history, Rabbi Camille Shira Angel [2].