Alumni Scholars Program
Creation of The Achievement Award Program
In 1996 California voters approved Proposition 209, which prohibited the consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex in the admission process at public universities. Immediately, the percentage of students at the University of California, Berkeley from low-income, minority communities decreased dramatically. As a result, the Cal Alumni Association (CAA), encouraged by Chancellor Robert Berdahl, formed a task […]
Freshman Scholar Takes Flight at Berkeley
Justin Hogenauer ’22 dreams of becoming an Air Force pilot, but when it came to choosing where to go to college, he wanted a top-tier school—one that provided the kind of broad academic, professional, and social advantages for which Cal is so well known. “The Air Force Academy was an option,” he says. “But the […]
A Letter from the Executive Director | Summer 2019
We’re getting older—and that’s great news! This year, the Cal Alumni Association’s Alumni Scholars Program celebrates 85 years of support for the best and brightest in the Cal community.
‘A New Day’: One Alumna Finds Cal Pride, 40 Years After Graduation
By Courtney Cheng“It is refreshing and healing—liberating, actually—to see a new day, a new message to African American students, and to all of us,” Dana shares. “When I told one of the students that assisted in the interviews how much I appreciated her presence, she responded with, ‘Yes, but I am standing on your shoulders.’”
Celebrating 85 Years of Alumni Scholarships
Established in 1934 in the depths of the Great Depression, the Alumni Scholars Program now supports 800+ undergraduate scholars each year, awarding more than $2.2 million in financial aid.
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Two hundred is the lucky number. Two hundred lives, two hundred educational paths, two hundred potential thoughts of imposter syndrome, and a multitude of familial pressures are what CAA’s five-person Alumni Scholars Program team support on a daily basis. For the 2018–19 academic year, the Alumni Scholars Program is supporting 200 new and returning students […]
The Thrill and Awe of UC Berkeley
Independent and driven, Linnea Norton ’19 displayed leadership talent as a toddler with her earliest phrase to her mother: “Nea do it!” she protested. Now a recipient of CAA’s Leadership Award, Linnea continues to drive her own success. Prior to entering Cal as a transfer student and molecular environmental biology major, she studied veterinary science […]
A Letter from the Executive Director | Spring 2018
“It is a disturbing fact to me,” joked President John F. Kennedy in his 1962 Charter Day speech, “that the New Frontier owes as much to Berkeley, as it does to Harvard University.” Happy Birthday, Golden Bears! 2018 is an exciting year, marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of Berkeley—the shining star of public education. How […]
The Value of My Public Education
Betty Yee ’79 made her first political act at age 13: a plea before city officials not to close the local school. The move would force her to bus to school, away from her responsibilities to her family business. Her act “was about giving a voice to people who didn’t speak English,” Betty says. “That’s […]
Celebrating 100 Years of Cal
Golden Bears forever, Bob and Sheryl Wong are celebrating a combined 100 years at Cal—first as students, then as volunteers, philanthropists, and now as Builders of Berkeley. Sheryl ’67, C. Mult. ’68, whose parents also attended Berkeley, loved Cal the minute she stepped on campus. She believes navigating Cal is as much a learning experience as […]
Everyone Needs a Hand
Kruttschnitt Aspire Scholarship Program (KASP) scholar Pedro Flores, Jr. took the non-traditional route to UC Berkeley. An admittedly disinterested high school student, he hung out with gangs in his South Central LA neighborhood. “I had trouble staying away because my friends were gang members,” Pedro explains, who attributes much of his success to his mom. […]
Making Your Own Berkeley Way
Running and cycling. Both are fitting leisure activities for Phi Beta Kappa Cal graduate Glenn Kelman ’93, who operates at warp speed. Now the busy CEO of Redfin, an online real estate brokerage, Glenn chose Cal because “it was the best public university in the world, my best friend in high school attended, it had […]
