Equity & Inclusion

Welcome to a new year at Cal! I am excited and humbled to be starting this year as the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division.

Cal has long been a place of innovation, an institution that has produced knowledge that has, literally, changed the world. But I also know that the past few years have been challenging on campus and that many of our graduate students struggle to keep body and soul together.

With that in mind, I have three main goals that I hope to advance this year:

Dear Campus Community,

I write to you today to share some information which I hope will serve as a reminder to our community that there are people around us who carry with them different life experiences and identities, and with whom we have a shared humanity.

Last week, in an unfortunate escalation of events next to a playground on university property, two young Black boys, sons of two of our students, were detained by two of our campus police officers. 

UC Berkeley joined the tens of thousands who flooded into downtown San Francisco on Sunday to celebrate LGBTQ pride. Clad in T-shirts that read “Fiat Love” and holding “Go Bears” signs, the campus community — led by the Cal Alumni Association and Gender Equity Resource Center — brought their Cal spirit as they joined some 50,000 marchers and dozens of floats on Market St. In addition to honoring the city’s vibrant LGBTQ history, the celebration also marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City.

Dear campus community,

Every member of the UC Berkeley community is a valuable contributor to the university, regardless of immigration status. We recognize that recent reports of potential raids have many in our community (locally and in other parts of the country) feeling a heightened level of anxiety. We remain steadfast in welcoming, supporting, and building community with our undocumented students and staff.