June 15, 2021 Campus update from Chancellor Christ

Dear Cal alumni and friends:

While reputation is key to helping students and faculty decide if Berkeley is the place for them, we cannot underestimate the significance of the buildings where they learn and work. More than offering much-needed classroom and lab space, first-rate facilities seed new ideas, new collaborations, new disciplines, and new breakthroughs.

The Gateway, a visionary new home for the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), is one such place of possibility. A 380,000-square-foot entity prominently located on the north edge of campus, this open, interconnected space will unite more than 1,600 faculty, staff, and researchers from diverse disciplines in a shared purpose: using the power of computing and data science to accelerate solutions in biomedicine and human health, climate and sustainability, and human welfare and social justice.

Last week we announced three gifts of $25 million each to help bring the Gateway, slated to open in 2025, to life. Notably, two of the gifts are from current CDSS and College of Engineering professors Scott Shenker and Ion Stoica. (The third gift is from an anonymous donor.) Combined with a $252 million gift announced last year, the Gateway is now more than halfway funded. We must raise the balance before groundbreaking proceeds to build, as Stoica calls it, an “idea factory, an ecosystem where students, faculty, and staff can come together to tackle complex societal problems.”

Berkeley’s commitment to social justice also turns inward — toward supporting our own students and programs. The College of Environmental Design announced a transformative $5.3 million gift from the Jon Stryker M. Arch. '89 that will provide tuition relief to more than 100 graduate students who pledge to pursue social justice careers. The financial support guarantees the fellows, called the Arcus Social Justice Corps, can focus less on graduate school debt and more on their passions, such as increasing access to healthy food in low-income communities, reforming segregation-based housing policies, and other urban challenges where design and justice intersect.

These powerful, inspiring gifts represent great belief in — and momentum toward — Berkeley’s ability to develop buildings and programs that bring the brightest minds together toward creating a healthier, most just world. Thank you.

Fiat Lux, and Go Bears!

Carol T. Christ
Chancellor


Chancellor’s Choice

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — In lieu of Ailey’s popular annual residency at Cal Performances, this exclusive video presentation features the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by resident choreographer Jamar Roberts. His visceral, subtle works engage artfully with contemporary issues, such as the devastating effect the pandemic and police misconduct have had on Black people. Available on demand through Sept. 8, 2021.

Bugs at the Botanical Garden— The UC Botanical Garden, a 34-acre oasis with over 10,000 types of plants, is now open by reservation only. If you can’t visit in person, the UCBG is offering over 10 online programs in June celebrating Bug Month. From edible bugs to honeybees, aquatic insects to backyard crawlies, dig into the wonderful, weird, and wicked world of bugs!