Jamie Geluz
CAA Donor Spotlight: Joanne Brown
Joanne Brown, Leadership Award recipient, triple-degree Cal alum, and dedicated supporter of CAA’s Alumni Scholarships & Engagement Program, reflects on how scholarship support, campus activism, and a passion for justice shaped her Cal journey, and why she is dedicated to giving back.
Cal Connection – The Mission of CAA
This year, the Cal Alumni Association leaned into a shared aspiration: becoming the #1 alumni association for the #1 public university. Interim Executive Director Kirk Tramble shares the plan.
2025 Cal Gift Guide: Give With Heart, Spirit, and Berkeley Pride
By Urja UpadhyayaThis year’s Cal Gift Guide highlights gifts that give back, supporting student well-being, campus programs, and everyday Berkeley spirit through thoughtful picks and purposeful contributions.
Before Berkeley Begins: A Coast-to-Coast Welcome for Incoming Students
By Urja UpadhyayaThis summer, UC Berkeley Alumni Chapters across the country hosted Summer Welcome Parties that turned strangers into classmates and questions into confidence. From Cal Band cameos to cultural unity chants, gatherings welcomed the new students, long before Move-In Day.
Ramon Ramirez Paints a City That Refuses to Sit Still
By Urja UpadhyayaCal alum Ramon Ramirez found his calling at Berkeley, where a Chicanx art exhibition and a book of poetry redirected his path from architecture to painting. Today, his large-scale works capture the restless energy of Los Angeles, blending heritage, identity, and civic responsibility into art he insists is essential, not ornamental.
Bear Territory Meets Tiger Pride: A Night of Unity at Alumni House
By Urja UpadhyayaAt Alumni House, Golden Bears and Tigers gathered not as rivals but as a community. The Cal Alumni Association’s Golden Bears Welcome TSU Tigers reception honored TSU’s proud legacy and Berkeley’s public mission through spirited conversation, alum voices, and a powerful dialogue between Chancellor Rich Lyons and TSU President J. W. Crawford III.
“Access Is a Culture, Not a Checklist”: Ann Wai-Yee Kwong ’15 on Redefining Disability
Blind, neurodivergent, first-gen, and working-class, Ann Wai-Yee Kwong ’15 is helping reshape how higher education understands disability, not as a limitation, but as leadership. At the helm of UC Berkeley’s Disability Cultural Community Center, she’s building a future where access begins with culture.
“From Sproul to The Hague”: A Q&A with Christina Hioureas ’04, J.D. ’07
By Urja UpadhyayaDrawn to UC Berkeley by the free-speech tradition and human-rights legacy, Christina Hioureas ’04, J.D. ’07 now argues climate accountability, decolonization, and human rights before international courts while building a pipeline for the next generation of Bears.
Opening Doors, One 25-Cent Fix at a Time: Jim and the Rogers Family Legacy
By Jessie Fisher“You’re not gonna knock on the door of the person next to you at a motel,” Jim said. The environment, the experience—it works with human nature.
Goodbye, Oakland: When the Teams Leave, What Remains?
By Urja Upadhyaya / All photos are courtesy of Don Collier, KLC fotosIn “Goodbye, Oakland,” authors Andy Dolich and Dave Newhouse explore the rise and fall of a beloved sports town. At a recent Cal Alumni event, they shared what happens when teams leave, fans stay, and a city must fight to hold onto its soul.
Hale Zukas and the Quiet Power of Persistence: A Berkeley Story That Changed the World
By Urja UpadhyayaTheir mission was clear: center Hale’s voice, show the world what presence-as-resistance looks like, and reframe how we talk about access, design, and justice. Through the lens of the award-winning film HALE, we revisit a Berkeley story that changed the world.
No Final Victories: Juneteenth at Berkeley with Two Icons of Change
By Urja UpadhyayaDr. Harry Edwards and Dr. Troy Duster brought history to life in a powerful Juneteenth conversation on justice, legacy, and leadership, reminding us that the past is not behind us, but guiding us forward.
