Divya Tunwal has made the most out of her time at Cal.
 
A McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative intern for the Golden Bears, Tunwal joined Cal Athletics in September of 2021 as part of the Mclendon program that provides opportunities for roughly 30 young ethnic minorities per year within college athletic departments around the country.
 
Tunwal, a 23-year-old Fremont product whose parents hail from India, graduated from UC Riverside with a business degree in 2021.
 
"The MLI is super important," she said. "There are not a ton of people that look like me in athletics. Creating these opportunities for minorities is really important not for just the individual getting the opportunity but for the program getting that individual. Diversity makes your place better when you have people with different backgrounds, different ideas and different ways of doing things."
 
At Cal, Tunwal worked with a variety of units and in a variety of capacities, including assisting with the coordination of National Championship Week, assisting the equipment room with laundry and inventory needs, helping the business office track travel invoices and per diem requests, tracking student-athlete NIL deals and inputting details into a database and much more.
 
Tunwal's favorite event was National Championship Week.
 
"It was one of the first things I did," Tunwal said. "It's a cool way to get to know our student-athletes who won national championships and all their coaches."
 
"Our goal was to get Divya as much exposure to all aspects of the department to prepare her for whatever that next chapter was for her," said Jenny Simon-O'Neill, Cal's Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, Chief of Staff & Senior Woman Administrator. "Coaches and staff have really enjoyed working with her, and they're excited to see someone get an opportunity to work in college athletics who's really passionate and excited about it."
 
Cal football head coach Justin Wilcox and men's basketball head coach Mark Fox – who are MLI Ambassadors – helped to fund Tunwal's 10-month internship for the 2021-22 year. Her internship ends today, and Cal Athletics will look to bring in a McLendon intern for 2022-23 later this summer.
 
"An important part of Cal's mission is to grow and develop talented people to work in Intercollegiate Athletics, and Divya Tunwal is certainly a shining example of a bright young person deserving of this opportunity," Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. "I applaud head coaches Justin Wilcox and Mark Fox for initiating this opportunity with the McLendon Leadership Initiative at Cal. Thank you to Divya for her work as a member of our staff over the past year. We look forward to what the future holds for her."
 
Simon-O'Neill lauds the MLI program, noting that her entry into collegiate athletics came via an internship program run by the NCAA.
 
"I was given an opportunity with a similar type of internship to enter this field – I will be forever indebted to the people who made that possible – and I think that's one of the things that inspired me so much about what Mark and Justin did," she said. "It's really amazing and I am incredibly proud to be at an institution where we have two of our most high-profile coaches that are so invested in creating these types of opportunities for women and ethnic minorities to be future administrators, and I think this really reflects their true commitment to it. It's not just something they talk about, but it's something they invest in and continue to invest in to make these opportunities happen."
 
A committee of Simon-O'Neill, Dr. Ty-Ron Douglas, Cal's Associate AD for Diversity, Equity, Belonging, Inclusion and Justice, and former Assistant Athletic Director Jill Culbertson interviewed Tunwal for the position.
 
"Our department and my office are committed and eager to recruit and develop diverse and dynamic leaders in sport," Douglas said. "I am grateful that the MLI program has facilitated an opportunity to invest in Divya's professional growth and to benefit from her contributions and talent. She has been a valued member of our Cal family."
 
One of Tunwal's last tasks for Cal was to attend the annual NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Convention held earlier this week in Las Vegas, where she attended workshops and networked with industry professionals.
 
"When I came to Cal I was looking forward to something to take me out of my comfort zone, and Cal definitely did that, in a good way," she said. "I got to meet a bunch of people I'm glad to have met. Being able to take part in the work experience and going to different events have been super fun. Every day I kept learning something new. My experience at Cal was really fun and made me realize how much I enjoy working in sports."