News

Donor Impact: Enriching the Lives of Students and Alums Alike

This past year, donor contributions supported our Alumni Scholars Program, awarding 212 new, deserving students across our five different scholarships.

Midwest, Meet Berkeley: Inside the Cal Alumni Club of Chicago

By Urja Upadhyaya

The Cal Alumni Club of Chicago doesn’t just gather—it galvanizes. Through beach picnics, game watch parties, and road trips across state lines, they’re creating a Midwest home for Golden Bears of all generations.

Love Letters to Campus: The Class of 2025 Writes Back

By Urja Upadhyaya / Photos by Katherine Fiordalis

In this collection of “Love Letters to Campus,” five graduating seniors share what made UC Berkeley home—from ceramics and comedy to protests, pigments, and stadium chants. These aren’t goodbyes. They’re artifacts of presence—memories made tactile, reflective, and rooted in the spaces that shaped them.

Cheers to Cal: A Celebration of Transition, Community, and What’s Next

By Urja Upadhyaya

On May 17th, Berkeley's graduating class came together at Alumni House for Cheers to Cal—a warm, spirited gathering filled with laughter, pride, and cherished moments celebrating lifelong Golden Bear connections.

The Glitter Has Teeth: Gericault De La Rose and the Art of Unapologetic Becoming

By Urja Upadhyaya

At the intersection of queerness, Filipinx folklore, and chosen family, Gericault De La Rose M.F.A. ’23 creates maximalist art that resists silence. From protest performances to Sailor Moon shrines, she offers a vision of identity that sparkles, survives, and stuns.

Before the Blue and Gold: Summer Welcome Parties Across the Years

By Urja Upadhyaya

Before students arrive in Berkeley, many get their first taste of Cal community at Summer Welcome Parties—chartered chapter-hosted gatherings filled with warmth, wisdom, and Golden Bear pride. Here we take a look back at the memories, milestones, and magic of these beloved events.

What to Make This Summer? Art Directors Have the Answers

By Jessie Fisher

This is your role-by-role guide to the jobs that keep the Lair running. By the end, you’ll see how every part—comes together to create the Lair’s special song.

In the Shade of Memory: Reflections from a Soon-to-Be Alum

By Melissa Mora-Gonzalez

Melissa Mora-Gonzalez reflects on her time at UC Berkeley through the quiet companionship of campus trees. In this love letter, she traces moments of stillness, self-discovery, and belonging—walking familiar paths that once felt uncertain, and finding meaning in the spaces between.

Love Drafting: Stories Carried by the Berkeley Wind

By Jessie Fisher

Jessie Fisher captures the heartbeat of UC Berkeley through the voices of four graduating seniors in a moving portrait of everyday rituals, major shifts, and quiet resilience. From machine learning to music, their stories echo with gratitude—for the campus that shaped them and the futures they’re about to shape.

Shattering the Lens: Sara Maamouri’s Courageous Cinema of Truth

By Urja Upadhyaya

From Tunisia to UC Berkeley to the global stage, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Sara Maamouri is redefining how Arab women are seen—and heard—through the lens of truth. Her documentaries illuminate identity, justice, and the power of authentic representation.

Jessica Schwabach: Addressing Climate Change with Food Sustainability

By Rebekah Moan

“In the early days, we had no idea what we were doing. We were science students who had not thought of ourselves as entrepreneurs.”

Welcome Home: Finding Your Rhythm at the Lair

By Jessie Fisher

A place where networks grow, traditions deepen, and new campers are welcomed but as part of a breathing, evolving community.