People never expected much of Itzel Cortes Tena ’18 where she grew up, she recalls. She grew up in Salinas, California, a predominantly agricultural community where endless fields surround the center of town. Her mother works in the fields, and her father works in a packing plant.
Posted on October 14, 2019 - 2:30pm
Aaron Smith founded his first nonprofit as a freshman at Cal. He couldn’t have done it without TAAP.
Posted on October 7, 2019 - 8:00am
In a six-part series, we highlight a few of the moments, movements, and people that made their mark on Cal’s LGBTQ+ history. We move through the decades, beginning in an era of secrecy and continuing through today.
Posted on October 4, 2019 - 9:19am
Laura Smith is the new Deputy Editor of California, the award-winning publication of the Cal Alumni Association (CAA).
Posted on October 4, 2019 - 8:00am
“Kirk is going to Cal,” Thomas Tramble ’71, C.Esing ’72 says, from the moment his son Kirk was born; setting in motion a new legacy of Trambles at Cal. Thomas continuously exposed Kirk to Cal, bringing him onto campus and to events. Eventually, Kirk ’93 got his degree in electrical engineering and computer science, and did the same with his children. Twenty-five years later, Kirk’s son Gabriel ’18, earned his degree in media studies. Gabriel says if he has children, he definitely would want them to come to Cal.
Posted on October 2, 2019 - 8:00am
Michael Trevino ’89 was a founding member of the task force that created The Achievement Award Program (TAAP) and has been one of program’s biggest advocates in the 20 years since. Michael’s passion for TAAP is personal: if TAAP was in place at UC Berkeley when he was a student here, he would have been a likely recipient.
Posted on September 30, 2019 - 8:00am
On Sunday, September 8, 2019, more than 500 Cal alumni, faculty, students, and friends joined together at the annual Oakland LGBTQ+ Pride Parade and Festival. For the third year in a row, the Cal Alumni Association (CAA) partnered with UC Berkeley’s Gender Equity Resource Center (GenEq) to lead the Cal contingent of marchers and host Cal’s official booth at the Festival.
Posted on September 23, 2019 - 10:00am
Rosa Hernandez ’15 didn’t grow up imagining she would attend college. Her mom was only educated up to a third-grade level and once even told Rosa, “The job that I can advocate for you to get would be at the meat packing plant I work at.”
Posted on September 23, 2019 - 8:00am
LGBTQ studies as an academic field found early roots in the 1930s. The development of queer theory, however, found momentum several decades later in the 1970s.
Posted on September 19, 2019 - 10:30am
The Cal Alumni Association (CAA) thanks all the alumni and professionals that attended this year’s Alumni-Student Mixer at Golden Bear Orientation. Approximately 150 alumni from a variety of industries and backgrounds welcomed new transfer students to Cal on Memorial Glade. Because of these volunteers, nearly 1,000 students received a warm welcome to campus, and were ready to start their first semester at UC Berkeley with clarity about the paths alumni took to get where they are now.
Posted on September 17, 2019 - 9:00am
As a UC Berkeley alumna, I find it more critical than ever to uplift today’s students. I remember sitting among new graduates, their families and friends, and Cal faculty and staff in the cold wind and pouring rain at UC Berkeley’s commencement celebration in May. It wasn’t just the weather that made the moment stick in my mind; it was also listening to Tiffany Moore ’19 sing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music as it stormed.
Posted on September 17, 2019 - 8:00am
In a six-part series, we highlight a few of the moments, movements, and people that made their mark on Cal’s LGBTQ+ history. We move through the decades, beginning in an era of secrecy and continuing through today.
Posted on September 17, 2019 - 8:00am
Omar Ramirez ’06 hadn’t thought he would attend college—much less graduate from UC Berkeley and remain on campus as a full-time staff member for the next 12 years. Growing up in a low-income neighborhood in Lynwood, California, in a family of immigrants with mixed citizenship statuses, Omar was more familiar with interviewing for minimum-wage jobs at fast food restaurants than applying to colleges. In fact, he didn’t make plans to go to college until the summer after his senior year of high school, when he figured, “Maybe I’ll give community college a shot.”
Posted on September 16, 2019 - 8:00am
In a six-part series, we highlight a few of the moments, movements, and people that made their mark on Cal’s LGBTQ+ history. We move through the decades, beginning in an era of secrecy and continuing through today.
Just as the gay community was enjoying less discrimination and harassment, more peer support, better health services, and greater visibility, people started getting sick. Very sick. The first known AIDS patient was identified in the United States in 1981. By 1985, 12,000 Americans had died.
Posted on September 13, 2019 - 8:00am
Members of the LGBTQ+ community have been part of UC Berkeley’s campus community since its inception, but their physical and social environment has changed dramatically. No longer do they have to live in isolation. No longer do they have to risk getting arrested for being who they are.
Posted on September 11, 2019 - 8:00am
