Cal Family –

Greetings from Haas Pavilion!

What an amazing time to be a Golden Bear! Our list of recent successes and exciting news is long, and it truly gives me an extra bounce in my step when I wake up every morning.

I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Chancellor-Designate Rich Lyons as the next Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley. As he stated when he received his appointment earlier this month, his relationship with our University has spanned a lifetime and he was even in the stands at California Memorial Stadium for The Play as an undergrad in 1982. He has been giving back to Cal ever since, notably as the dean of the Haas School of Business and as a leader of innovation on campus. Our department is looking forward to partnering with him when he takes over on July 1 and I know he will bring exemplary leadership to our campus!

Before he begins his new role, Chancellor Christ still has a few months to go before she begins to enjoy her well-deserved retirement. As I've stated so many times, Chancellor Christ has been an incredible leader for this campus and an amazingly supportive partner of Cal Athletics. Just recently, Coach Madsen and I were able to spend some time with her in Los Angeles for the celebration of the campus' successful Light the Way campaign. The legacy of Chancellor Christ's leadership will be felt for a long, long time!

We have a big day planned for Saturday, April 20, at our annual football Spring Showcase! In addition to the scrimmage, we have numerous other activities in store – face painting and yard games on Lisa and Douglas Goldman Plaza, a postgame autograph session, the launch of our Summer Reading Challenge and Book Drive, just to name a few. I hope many of you get a chance to spend the day at California Memorial Stadium with us as our football student-athletes wrap up what has been a very competitive and productive spring!

Many of you may have seen by now that our track & field star Mykolas Alekna broke the world record in the discus throw last weekend in Oklahoma! Mykolas has already qualified for the Summer Olympics later this year in Paris and is taking a redshirt year to prepare. What an accomplishment by Mykolas and our track & field program! He shattered a record that stood for 38 years, and became the first Golden Bear track & field athlete to set a world record since Eddie Hart did so in the 100-meter dash and 4x100 relay in 1972!

I hope some of you were able to attend the NCAA women's gymnastics regional that we hosted earlier this month at Haas Pavilion! It truly was a memorable experience. Not only did our team win the regional and advance to this week's NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, but our fans gave our team a lift with their incredible enthusiasm. They were LOUD! I'm also incredibly proud of our staff for putting on such a terrific event. It took staffers from all corners of our department to put on such a great show, and I am truly humbled by the passion and hard work displayed by our Cal Athletics Family.

I was excited to extend Charmin Smith's contract earlier this month. Charmin had her best season as a head coach and I am excited about the direction of the program as we make the move to the ACC. Charmin understands and embraces our mission here at the University, and I am looking forward to her continued leadership and mentoring of the young women in our program.

Earlier this month, the Cal Athletics Fund hosted a variety of alumni events on campus, including gatherings for men's and women's soccer, baseball, track and field, and rugby. It was amazing to see hundreds of alumni make their way back to Berkeley to support their respective programs and enjoy some spring competition!
 
It was also exciting for us to be included in the campus Light The Way campaign celebrations in Berkeley and Santa Monica that recognized the completion and success of the university's $7.3 billion campaign. In all, athletics donors gave $350.2 million in support, with $334.5 million in gifts and pledges directly impacting the Light The Way campaign. I can not express enough how grateful we are for your dedication and generosity.

The Cameron Institute continues to be a national leader in holistic student-athlete development, and one shining example of the difference it makes in the lives of our student-athletes is its mentorship program. It is a true partnership of our alumni and their professional networks. By connecting our student-athletes with seasoned professionals in their fields of interest, the program opens doors and provides invaluable support for exploring and preparing for their career paths. The results speak for themselves, with 80 successful mentor-mentee matches to date!
 
We are especially grateful for the dedication of mentors like Dr. Cindy Chang, whose expertise and passion for the medical field have tremendously impacted the lives of the students she mentors. For anyone who shares Dr. Chang's passion and dedication to helping student-athletes succeed, we invite you to consider becoming a mentor in the Cameron Institute Mentorship Program. With your support, we can help even more deserving student-athletes find their path to success and achieve their full potential. Don't wait - click here to sign up today and make a difference in the life of a current Cal student-athlete!
 
It is hard to believe we are nine days away from the last day of class. The year has flown by, and we are grateful to serve at this University and thankful for all of your support.
 
Go Bears!


  
Jim