Dear Friend of Cal Athletics: 
 
Wow! It's hard to believe that we are closing out the academic year! It has been exciting, thrilling, challenging and rewarding, and our student-athletes, staff and coaches have displayed their characteristic Cal grit, determination and resiliency as we have navigated through unprecedented and uncharted waters. I could not be prouder of this Cal Family. Not only are we still standing, but we thrived and continue to raise the bar.
 
Since the start of the pandemic, we have conducted more than 25,000 COVID-19 PCR tests with a positivity rate near 0.35 percent, and the vast majority of our teams played all of their scheduled events. I am proud of how we supported all 30 of our teams simultaneously and how well our student-athletes held themselves accountable and excelled. We asked a lot and received a lot in return.
 
On Saturday, May 15, we celebrated our successes – although still virtually – first with the campus graduation ceremony, followed by our own Student-Athlete Graduation Celebration where we recognized our more than 150 graduating seniors and announced many of our academic awards and postgraduate scholarships. Among the honorees were Darren Baker (baseball) and Deshae Wise (women's track & field), who received the Tom Hansen Conference Medal as the graduating male and female student-athletes who exhibit "the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership." Ben Harper (men's track & field) and Archer Olson (women's basketball) earned the Neufeld Award with the highest GPAs among our graduating seniors, while our women's basketball team won our award for having the highest grade-point average among all of our programs with a 3.61 GPA. A big congratulations to each of our winners!
 
On Sunday, our campus gave all graduating seniors the opportunity to "walk" in a modified ceremony at the Greek Theatre. Although no friends or family could be in attendance, thousands of students took advantage over the course of five days. I had the honor of being the first member of the Chancellor's Cabinet to hand out scrolls, starting on Sunday, May 16 at 8 a.m. Although we were in an almost empty venue, it was heartening to see and hear the joy and excitement among the students who received their degrees from the world's No. 1 public university, waving and hamming it up for their parents and family members who were watching through the live stream.
 
When I look back at the accomplishments of this last semester, there are some significant highlights:

• Overall, 122 Golden Bears from our fall and winter teams were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll, all with GPAs of at least 3.3. Football and women's soccer led the way with 29 and 20 selections, respectively.
• Senior George Finlayson received the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for men's rowing, becoming the third Golden Bear recognized with the honor this year, following Michael Saffell (football) and Emily Smith (women's soccer). George earned his degree as a history major and creative writing minor, and he has been accepted to Cambridge University to pursue a master of philosophy in management.
• Our women's tennis coach, Amanda Augustus, deserves a big Go Bears! after earning Pac-12 Coach of the Year Honors. She guided her team to its first Pac-12 Tournament title and into the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16.
• I'm also thrilled to say that three members of our team received Excellence in Management Awards from the Berkeley Staff Assembly – Ryan Cobb, Josh Hummel and Jenny Simon-O'Neill. This year's theme was fitting for our leaders -- "Leading in Difficult Times," with an emphasis on resilience, inclusiveness, compassion, adaptiveness, work-life balance and well-being/morale. I could not be more proud of how our entire team has managed through this past year, and I especially want to applaud Jenny, Josh and Ryan for their hard work and guidance.

While our student-athletes were excelling in the classroom and on the field, we were also able to hold our inaugural Leadership Showcase hosted by the Cameron Institute and supported by the Cal Athletics Fund. The TED Talk-style online event featured four student-athletes and one alumnus, who spoke on leadership and their life journeys – Cameron Kondo (softball), Camryn Rogers (women's track & field), Catherine Roxas (lacrosse), Fernando Andrade (men's soccer), and Matt Friend '99 (baseball). To hear their amazing stories, please click on the link above.
 
In our efforts to embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts, including Black History Month and Women's History Month earlier this year, we focused on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. Members of our staff have shared moving stories through listening sessions, staff meetings and written pieces. We've posted several feature stories and blog entries on their experiences. Earlier this week, we also hosted a DEIB Playbook discussion that featured several panelists from our Cal Family and across the country. I am grateful to the members of our AAPI community within Cal Athletics for educating and accelerating our department.
 
As we continue to stay connected with our supporters, we have hosted  a number of events that have brought our alumni together, including recent ones with our men's gymnastics and women's rowing programs. The men's gymnastics team's virtual event on May 2 commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the program's reinstatement in 2011 and celebrated the program's historic legacy. It featured interviews with former head coach Brett McClure (now USA Gymnastics' executive director) and alumni Don Bailey '14 and Steve Mikulak '89. Thank you to the 88 donors who helped us raise more than $75,000 to support exceptional student-athletes experiences. Meanwhile on May 21, Cal women's crew honored the program's 45-year history as a varsity sport with a virtual celebration. Guests enjoyed features recognizing the 1980 women's varsity 8+ national title and Kara Kohler '14, the first rower named to the 2021 U.S. Olympic team. We appreciate everyone who helped raise approximately $34,000 in the event's fund-a-need initiative to help the program purchase a new team van. Thank you for helping us finish the year strong!
 
I am excited that we are into our summer planning, including our annual trip to Gar Woods at Lake Tahoe. I invite you to join the Coaches Caravan on Thursday, July 1 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Gar Woods (5035 North Lake Boulevard) in Carnelian Bay. Bears in the Woods, the California Alumni Association chapter serving Reno, Lake Tahoe and Truckee, will host its annual summer Cal Athletics update in partnership with Cal alum Tom '76 and Maurine Turner. We are grateful for their incredible hospitality at Gar Woods each year! Please register here to join me and several Cal coaches for an in-person preview of the 2021-22 sports seasons. Space is limited. The complete Coaches Caravan series will be announced soon. We hope to see you in beautiful Lake Tahoe!
 
I am excited about our new Pac-12 commissioner, George Kliavkoff, and am looking forward to meeting with all of the conference athletic directors in Las Vegas next week. This is an important starting point as we discuss issues central to our conference and college athletics as we look to build the Conference of Champions of the future.
 
July brings the Tokyo Olympics, and we will once again be well represented on the international stage. Nearly a dozen Golden Bears have already been officially added to Olympic rosters, and I expect many more will be announced in the coming weeks. Two of our coaches will also be leading teams at the Games – Dave Durden is the head U.S. men's swimming coach and Robyne Johnson is an assistant for the U.S. track & field team. Good luck, Dave, Robin and all of our athletes! Here's hoping that you'll bring back the gold!
 
As we move into the summer months and greatly reduced COVID state restrictions after June 15, we are looking forward to a much more normal fall with a lively campus and full stadiums. Nearly 95 percent of our 2019 football season-ticket holders have renewed their seats for this season, and demand for new season tickets is strong. If you haven't secured your tickets yet, please do so now to make sure you get the best location available. Our six-game home schedule kicks off against Nevada on Sept. 4 and runs through Nov. 13 when we host USC. To order tickets, visit CalBears.com/tickets or call (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) and press option 3.

I'm so grateful for all the support Cal Athletics has received from so many this year. I am proud of our Cal Family and look forward to seeing many of you in person in the coming months. Have a great summer, and Go Bears!
 


Jim Knowlton
Director of Athletics