Director’s Chair
Connections to Cal Are Critical for the Alumni Journey
150 years ago, a group of 12 rising seniors gathered in downtown Oakland, deciding to establish the alumni community we now know as the Cal Alumni Association (CAA). This simple, purposeful act ensured that all future students would have a lifetime community at Berkeley. The following year, those 12 students became the first to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.
A Little ‘California Spirit’
Alumni community leaders joined Cal Alumni Association staff and board members for strategic-planning sessions–and a dose of Cal spirit–at the Lair of the Golden Bear.
From the Executive Director
Campus is alive again.
From the Executive Director
"I am honored to introduce myself to you as the 13th Executive Director of the Cal Alumni Association (CAA)."
From the Executive Director: An Honor to Serve My Alma Mater
I write this after returning from Cal Discoveries Travel’s Grand Danube Passage trip.
From the Executive Director: A Stronger Cal Community
A call to action in support of our alumni community.
From the Executive Director: “Each of us can, and must, be the light that casts out darkness”
In May of 2020, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier saw police activity and then saw a man in pain.
A Moment for Healing, a Time for Action
In May of 2020 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, in the regular course of her day, saw police activity and then saw a man in pain. She stopped, pulled out her cell phone, and began recording. During the trial, Ms. Frazier expressed, “When I think of George Floyd, I see my father, my brothers, my cousin, my uncle. They are all Black. It could have been them.”
From the Executive Director: History Has Its Eyes on Us
I write this after watching the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States and the swearing-in of the first female and Black vice president. Though still operating at physical distances from one another, we, in many ways, have grown closer together through the shared experiences of life during a pandemic, social unrest, and the transition of leadership in our nation’s capital.
From the Executive Director: At the Forefront of Civil Rights
Women have long been at the forefront of civil rights. As we commemorate the past 150 years of women at Cal, we are offered a chance to reflect on the legacies of resilient women who laid a strong foundation for UC Berkeley. Throughout our university’s history we find women leading us forward: teaching respect for human life, fighting for progress, and creating avenues for change.
From the Executive Director: UC Berkeley Is Changing the Paradigm
UC Berkeley is changing the paradigm. Through innovation, we rise to meet our shared challenge—to connect our community during these virtual times. Our approach strengthens our commitment to raising the next generation of leaders and ensuring the diverse voices of our students and alumni are heard.
A Message from Our Executive Director: Let There Be Light
“Oh Freedom!”—the song you just heard—was what my mother sang with the Freedom Riders. She trained in Philadelphia and traveled to the South to engage in nonviolent resistance alongside Martin Luther King Jr. As an eight-year-old girl, I marched in the March on Washington. So, I speak to you today not only as Cal Alumni Association’s executive director, but also as a wife, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother who comes from a family involved in the fight for civil rights in the United States of America.
