On Campus
Can equity in higher education be counterproductive?
By Dhoha BarecheSince its founding in 1868, the University of California has been committed to making higher education accessible to everyone.
Was Mark Twain an Antiracist?
By Pat JosephSince 1949, the Mark Twain Papers (now the Mark Twain Papers and Project) have resided at the Bancroft Library, and for more than four decades, Robert Hirst, M.A. ’65, Ph.D. ’76, has presided over them as general editor and curator.
The Chancellor’s Letter from the Fall Issue of California Magazine
By Chancellor Carol T. ChristOur university is relentlessly dynamic, constantly evolving to meet students’ interests, keep pace with the expanding depth and breadth of knowledge, and support an ambitious and entrepreneurial research enterprise.
The News is Different Depending on Who’s Telling the Story
By Laura SmithSince 2006, the front pages of newspapers from around the world have been blown up and displayed outside Moffitt Library and the adjacent Free Speech Movement Café.
An Orchestra Conductor, Covid Vaccinations Without the Poke, and a Roma Activist
By Martin SnappAlthough he’s still in his twenties, Stefano Flavoni ’15 is already making his mark on the classical music scene.
This Land is Their Land
By Hayden RoysterTo Phenocia Bauerle, the words “land-grant college” carry a particular weight. A member of the Apsáalooke tribe, she grew up in Montana, a state where, as she puts it, “it’s understood what a land-grant institution means: It means Native land was taken.”
Berkeley v. Berkeley
By Dhoha BarecheIn March, the public was stunned to learn that state courts had ordered UC Berkeley to freeze enrollment at 2020–21 levels, meaning that about 2,600 fewer seats would be available to first-year and transfer students for in-person enrollment in the fall. The news came less than a month before admission offers were to be sent to incoming freshmen.
The World Has Become Desensitized to Our Pain
By Dhoha Bareche ’23Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, countries around the world have rallied their support for Ukrainians. NATO allies have united like never before, imposing severe economic sanctions on Russia and making Vladimir Putin an international pariah. At the same time, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become a celebrity in the West. What explains the outpouring of support?
First Person
By Alexa Zahlada '23, as told to Anabel SosaBack in 2009, I moved from Ukraine to the U.S. to live with my mom, who was studying to become a doctor. Years later, I remember her sitting me down in the car and saying, “I cannot afford to raise you here and I don’t know what to do.”
Editor’s Note
By Pat JosephGenerally speaking, we like things to be black and white. Give us heroes and villains, saints and sinners, good versus bad, and we’re happy. Give us grays—moral ambiguity, countervailing facts, good and bad swirled together—and the result is what psychologists call cognitive dissonance. We don’t like it.
Chancellor’s Letter
By Chancellor Carol T. ChristLast February, I was grateful to be present when a beautiful, sacred basket was finally returned to the people of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians. The basket had been, for many years, held by the Hearst Museum, one item among thousands that await repatriation to their rightful owners. It was a deeply moving occasion, another step toward building better relationships between our university and Native American tribes. Yet, we still have much work to do to repair the damage done, and to facilitate the sort of reconciliation that is incumbent upon Berkeley as an institution built by the people, for all the people.
Now This
By Pat JosephThe campus master plan.
