CAA Announcements

In 2018, the San Francisco Foundation funded the first set of African American Initiative Scholarships. Administered by the Cal Alumni Association, these scholarships were awarded to 28 deserving undergraduate students in support of the university’s commitment to Black and African American student success at Cal. The African American Initiative (AAI) is UC Berkeley’s effort to address the underrepresentation of and campus climate for African American students, faculty, and staff, and includes steps to improve recruitment, yield, retention, and graduation rates of African American students. The scholarship grants $8,000 annually for up to five years of undergraduate study, or a maximum of $40,000 total.

Growing up in Carson, California, Liliana “Lili” Iglesias ’12 remembered her mom saying often to her, “When you go to college….” This message ingrained in Lili the thought that she would go to college someday. Then, in middle school, her mom admitted to her, “I don’t know what [going to college] means, so try and ask your teachers and counselors how you can get there.”

The Wongs recognize that affording and navigating UC Berkeley is a much greater challenge now than when they met on campus fifty years ago.

Marco Ponce ’12

Being a volunteer for The Achievement Award Program (TAAP) hits close to home for Marco Ponce ’12. He was a former TAAP recipient, and he says it was a major reason why he decided to come to Cal. The conversations he had with alumni volunteers and staff from the Cal Alumni Association before committing to Cal were what sealed the deal.

“Some things in life: you cannot put a price tag on them. The value of being around like-minded people, people who come from the same background as you and have the same aspirations as you—I don’t think you can put a tag or value on it.”

On Sunday, June 30, 2019, more than 600 Cal alumni, faculty, students, and friends joined together to march at the 49th annual San Francisco LGBTQ+ Pride Parade. The Cal Alumni Association (CAA) partnered with UC Berkeley’s Gender Equity Resource Center (GenEq) to lead the Cal contingent of marchers for the third year in a row. This special year also marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a catalyst of the gay rights movement.

In late April, I had the privilege of traveling to Sacramento to discuss the inclusion of higher education in California’s state budget. I joined UC Berkeley leaders like Chancellor Carol Christ and UC Regent Jason Morimoto ’02 to meet with those working on the budget to advocate on behalf of students and their needs.