Dear members of the Cal community,
As the new academic year gets underway, I reflect on our progress over the past year to make Cal more inclusive, equitable and responsive as well as on the important work ahead this year including, but by no means limited to, addressing basic needs, advancing campus-wide accessibility, and strengthening trust and accountability in the institution – its structures, its practices, and its leadership.
Desmarie Jackson never thought she’d be accepted to UC Berkeley; she didn’t have the smarts or the money, she thought. Turns out she was wrong on both counts.
Desmarie, 17, was accepted as a freshman, beginning this fall. And thanks to the African American Initiative Scholarship, she can afford school, too.
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| Chancellor's Immediate Office |
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Dear Students, Staff and Faculty, |
As nearly 42,000 students begin lugging college basics like backpacks, laptops and books to UC Berkeley for fall semester, the campus is unveiling new plans to arm all students with an even more basic necessity — healthy, affordable food.
A successful push last year to start helping an estimated 10,000 Berkeley students in need to sign up for CalFresh, a federally funded program that issues a free debit card for groceries to those who qualify, is intensifying, with a goal of 3,000 students applying in 2018-2019.
Within five years of graduating, a majority of UC’s students from low-income families earn more than their parents.
That data, captured in UC’s 2018 Accountability Report, shows the extent to which a University of California degree can be a great economic equalizer. Among the highlights: