UC Berkeley’s Golden Bear Express

Sponsored by the Cal Alumni Association’s Southern California Alumni Chapters

UC Berkeley will welcome 8,500 new undergraduates this August through the new Golden Bear Orientation. Rather than students attending a separate orientation during the summer prior to move-in day, they will only need to come to campus once for orientation, move-in, and the fall semester.

Golden Bear Express

The Golden Bear Express is a program that transports low-income students from Southern California to campus on move-in day. On Sunday morning, August 13, 2017, Golden Bear Express buses will depart from six pick up locations throughout Southern California: Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay, Long Beach, Orange County, and San Diego. Each bus will host approximately 40 new undergraduate students (first-years and transfers) and will be joined by two current students (orientation leaders).

Fundraising

Each Southern California alumni chapter will coordinate regional fundraising efforts for the Golden Bear Express and will host a send-off for one bus in their name (e.g. The Orange County Golden Bear Express). The cost is approximately $2,500 per bus. Alumni are encouraged to give $68 to sponsor one student’s trip up to Cal, which includes a gift card for lunch at In-N-Out at the halfway point. Here are the steps to sponsor a student:

  • Go to orientation.berkeley.edu/make-gift
  • Scroll to the bottom and enter the donation amount. Suggested donation is $68 for one student.
  • “The Golden Bear Orientation” should already be selected by default
  • Click “Continue” to go to the giving detail page
  • Under the “Optional” section, click on “I am giving in honor of someone”
  • For the “name of person,” type in your alumni chapter’s code:
  • SD Golden Bear Express
  • OC Golden Bear Express
  • LBC Golden Bear Express
  • SB Golden Bear Express
  • LA Golden Bear Express
  • SGV Golden Bear Express
  • General giving should be “CAA Golden Bear Express.”
  • Enter your personal and financial information.

Contact

Sarah Yi, Cal Alumni Association (sarah.yi@alumni.berkeley.edu)