Spring 2023

For UC Berkeley, 2022 was a year of speaking out — against injustice, against violence, against the patriarchy — and committing to a better future, together.

When Russia waged war on Ukraine in February, the campus community joined in solidarity and voiced its outrage and defiance. When Iranians rose up in protest against their repressive government and called for freedom, Berkeley students, staff and faculty spoke out in support of the protesters and what they stood for. And students on campus screamed together for the art project OUTCRY.

When Berkeleyans weren’t speaking...

One of my hopes coming out of the pandemic was that we would become more aware of how interdependent we are as a community and perhaps do more to ensure that everyone has the support they need. The 2022 UAW contract negotiations and strike underscored that interdependence, making clear how essential postdoctoral scholars, academic researchers and graduate students are to our campus ecosystem; our teaching and research missions depend on them. Having them withdraw their labor created significant challenges and stress for our undergraduates, faculty and staff.

Students can now fill out the application to be a Golden Bear Orientation Leader for 2023. As a Golden Bear Orientation Leader, they will become part of a team that works collaboratively to welcome and orient new students to the UC Berkeley community, helping them explore academic life, campus involvement, and everything that UC Berkeley has to offer.

Responding quickly and creatively to needs and opportunities that arise on campus is vital to UC Berkeley’s ongoing excellence — and to do that, the university relies in large part on unrestricted flexible-use funds. One source of that flexible funding is fueled by the generosity of Berkeley parents and families, a giving opportunity that’s also tailor-made for them and their students: the Cal Parents Fund.

Gifts to the Cal Parents Fund help to sustain and improve access to Berkeley’s excellence in teaching, research, and public service by supporting students and faculty across...