Hi, Cal Bears!
 
I can't believe we are at the end of October!  Our students continue to bring great energy to campus every day and I am grateful that we are able to enjoy the wonderful and vibrant campus with the Cal Community!
 
As we prepare for our home football game against Oregon on Saturday, I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you in our Cal Family for your continued support of our student-athletes and football program. We have lost several close contests over the last few weeks, and we are all frustrated. Having said that, I can assure you nobody is more determined than Coach Wilcox and his staff, who continue to inspire our young men to reach their ultimate potential. I know the team feeds off the energy you bring to the stadium and I am hopeful we can enthusiastically support them on Saturday!
 
We have enjoyed a festive month, hosting two of our biggest celebrations on campus – our Aquatics Gala and Hall of Fame weekend. It was so gratifying to be able to once again hold these memorable events in-person after having to put them on hold for the past several years due to the pandemic. The Aquatics Gala was once again a spirited evening in which we celebrated sustained exceptional success, heard inspirational words from Olympians Ryan Murphy and Staciana Winfield, and raised $420,000 during our auction – truly a special night!
 
We had over 400 attendees at the Hall of Fame Gala and inducted 15 Cal legends while combining two classes. The inductees represented 11 Olympic medals, 20 All-Americans, 15 team national champions, 10 individual champions and an iconic golf cart ride after a big football win over Washington 16 years ago! Each inductee was also honored during halftime of our football game against Washington, and it was so enjoyable to celebrate our iconic stars. It was wonderful hosting these large celebratory events in person, and I look forward to our next large event, the 125th Big Game Dinner - registration is still open to anyone who would like to attend. 
 
Earlier this month, we handed out our annual Newmark Awards that honor the top academic teams at Cal. These awards come with a stipend of approximately $7,000 and are courtesy of the generosity of Kent and Pat Newmark, who have been longtime supporters of our department. Kent and Pat started the Newmark Award program in 2007 because of their strong belief in recognizing the tremendous academic accomplishments of our student-athletes. There are five awards given out each year, and this year's winners were men's rowing (men's large team category), field hockey (women's large team), men's gymnastics (men's small team), women's tennis (women's small team) and softball (most improved). Kent was on both the tennis and track teams here at Cal and he and Pat have given nearly $3.8 million to UC Berkeley, including support for tennis, golf, softball and others.
 
We are honoring LGBTQ+ History Month from October 16-31. Our theme this year is "Journeying from Invisibility to Visibility." During our LGBTQ+ History Month emphasis at our monthly All-Staff meeting last week, a student-athlete and staff member shared aspects of their journeys to visibility and their leadership and sense of belonging in Bears United (our LGBTQ+ student-athlete engagement group) and BE YOUnited (our LGBTQ+ employee engagement group). We also enjoyed lunch that was catered by a LGBTQ+-owned vendor.
 
As the signature amplification of Latinx Heritage Month, Cal alumna Melissa "Thunder Rosa" Cervantes came to campus to be the keynote speaker for our DEIBJ Playbook panel discussion event. Melissa is the first Mexican-born woman to win a pro wrestling championship at a major U.S. promotion and is the current All Elite Wrestling Women's World Champion!
 
Our DEIBJ office took Melissa on a special tour of Haas Pavilion and the Cesar Chavez Center to engage with various people, units, and spaces. While walking the halls, she was able to meet coaches, student-athletes and staff. Melissa was also able to meet with me and discuss our shared interests and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice. She also served as honorary coach for the women's soccer team's game against Washington State.
 
Haas Pavilion has become a busy place with both of our basketball teams practicing for the start of the season and our volleyball team halfway through its Pac-12 schedule. Our men's and women's basketball teams each get things going with exhibition games next week and begin the regular season with a doubleheader on Nov. 7. Coach Fox and Coach Smith have been working hard to continue to develop our student-athletes and I'm looking forward to seeing them on the court soon. I hope you can join us at Haas throughout the season – I know our players and coaching staff really feed off the energy you provide in the arena.
 
There are a couple of big games coming up for our fall sports teams. Our No. 2 men's water polo team visits No. 1 UCLA on Saturday on the Pac-12 Networks, and our No. 25 women's soccer team finishes the regular season with three straight home games – including a showdown against No. 7 Stanford in the season-finale.
 
As I close out, I would share an update on our Campaign for Cal Athletics Excellence. To date and in partnership with you, we have raised over $292 million towards our $350 million campaign goal with 14 months left. This has made it possible to provide exceptional student-athlete experiences, ensure competitive success and attract and retain the best people. Whether it's growing the Cameron Institute, winning three team national championships, or providing resources for our student-athletes to be successful both in and outside the classroom, none of this would be possible without your unwavering generosity - thank you. 
 
We need your help to finish strong and I invite you to watch this video to hear inspiring stories from our Cal family members and learn about our department priorities.
 
 
See you soon - Go Bears!
 
 
 
Jim