Dear Cal alums, parents, and friends,
This is not the first time I have experienced the start of a new semester at UC Berkeley, but it is the first time I am seeing it with fresh eyes in my new role as the chancellor. Last week I greeted students moving into Unit 1, their overloaded carts and proud families in tow. I also welcomed 9,000 new students to campus at the fall convocation in Haas Pavilion. I told them that I took my first steps at Berkeley in that very same place as an incoming student, and ever since then, there is no place I would rather be. This is the time Berkeley reanimates with unbounded promise and potential.
Brilliant students are not the only ones making their Berkeley debut. Nearly 800 transfer students were the first to move into Anchor House, a new home designed just for them and the unique challenges they face. In addition to comfortable rooms, the building includes special places to exercise, make art, cook, unwind, and connect. Funded entirely by the Helen Diller Foundation, it will give back in other ways: Proceeds from the building operations will fund scholarships for an estimated 400 students from low-income backgrounds each year.
We are also welcoming a new batch of winners! Cal's contingent of 59 Olympians (current students and alums) amassed 23 medals in nine different sports at the 2024 Summer Games. If Cal were a country, it would rank 12th in the overall medal count. I cannot think of a more exciting runup to the 2024–25 athletics season. Football kicks off Aug. 31 when the Golden Bears play UC Davis at California Memorial Stadium, and our first competition in any sport in the ACC is Sept. 6, when men's soccer plays North Carolina State in Raleigh.
The Department of Neuroscience — and a new undergraduate major — also arrived this fall, a response to the explosion in research across campus. Historically, faculty working in neuroscience have been scattered across biology, psychology, engineering, and other disciplines. Already, 32 faculty members have switched partially or fully to the new department, and more than 200 postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. students, and lab staff are part of it, more seamlessly working together to address dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and many more disorders that affect so many people.
Undergirding all of these exciting developments is a new record in fundraising. Cal alums and friends gave $1.3 billion in 2023–24 — Berkeley’s highest ever in a fiscal year. The gifts reflect the extraordinary range of possibilities at play and reveal the far-reaching impact of our diverse and powerful community.
Together we will usher in a new era of excellence. I know from my time here that there is nothing we cannot do when we join forces. I look forward to partnering with you as we build an even better Berkeley.
Go Bears!
Chancellor Rich Lyons
Chancellor’s Choice
Conversation: Free Speech at American Universities — In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement, renowned legal scholars Nadine Strossen and Erwin Chemerinsky will discuss how attitudes toward free speech have changed on college campuses; contemporary challenges, including cancel culture and the heckler’s veto; whether we are moving toward or away from social progress; and what universities can do to avoid the controversies of last year. Wednesday, Sept. 11, 4–6 p.m., International House. The event is free, but please register to attend.