Dear Cal Family,

The fall semester has officially arrived, and it's an exciting time on campus!

As you know, our football team is off to a strong 2-0 start! It was great to see so many of you (and a full student section!) at the game last weekend -- we all enjoyed the game and the performance by Texas Southern's Ocean of Soul marching band. We are looking forward to welcoming Big Ten opponent Minnesota to California Memorial Stadium this Saturday night. At the game we'll be celebrating Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night, where we'll proudly honor this year's Distinguished Teaching Award winners -- a true reflection of the excellence that defines Berkeley.  

We're excited about the launch of "Oski's Village" on Memorial Glade, where Cal fans can gather pregame for music, games, food and beer trucks. Fans have the ability to rent a tailgating tent for as low as $1,700 per game. Click here for more information. The Calgorithm was out in full effect at Oski's Village before the TSU game, and we look forward to seeing more fans take advantage of this pregame opportunity as the year progresses. 

On August 27th, we held one of our favorite annual traditions -- the Welcome Back BBQ for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. It's the one time all 900+ of our student-athletes are together in one place, and it serves as a powerful reminder of the strength and spirit of the Cal Athletics community. It was an energizing event filled with connection, celebration, and excitement for the year ahead, with Chancellor Lyons and Cal Football General Manager Ron Rivera helping us welcome the student-athletes back to campus. 

We are so appreciative of the continued support from Chancellor Lyons for our department and student-athletes. We've also thoroughly enjoyed our partnership with Ron Rivera as we all navigate such a transformative moment for both college athletics and Cal Athletics. Ron has full leadership of our football program -- including oversight of personnel, budget, and strategic direction -- while we lead our 29 other varsity sports and support units and staff, which also support football. We meet with Ron weekly and communicate daily. Our collaboration is grounded in a shared vision, aligned values, a deep respect for teamwork and a love for this amazing university. We are fully committed to supporting Ron as he leads the football program forward, while we all continue to elevate our entire department.

As we've transitioned into our Co-Director of Athletics roles, we've worked to revamp our organizational structure and establish a refreshed leadership model for our external units.  We are deeply grateful to the many members of our team who have stepped up during this time, especially to Beth Tafolla-Voetsch, who will oversee our entire external relations operation - including development, marketing, communications and revenue generation. Our collective goals in this area will be to increase attendance, viewership and revenue, and you'll continue to see us roll out new initiatives throughout the year.  

We have officially entered the revenue sharing era of college sports, and with the support of our community, we are committed to providing the resources necessary to recruit and support elite student-athletes in this new environment.  We're thrilled to report that through your support, we've unlocked the Chancellor's $8 million match for 2025-26 revenue sharing for football, men's basketball and women's basketball, and we are fully implementing the NCAA House settlement.

For Cal Athletics to achieve our bold goals in this new era of college sports, it will take continued support from the entire village and beyond, as you graciously demonstrated by helping us with $82 million in fundraising during the past fiscal year. We are incredibly fortunate to have alignment within the institution and across our alumni, donor and fan base. Now, more than ever, you all play a role in the success of Cal Athletics. So please continue to buy tickets, watch games, support our student-athletes through donations to the Cal Athletics Fund, and promote Cal Athletics to your friends, as we all work to continually enhance the Cal Athletics brand.  

We are excited for a successful 2025-26 year as we are setting the foundation for even greater successes in the years ahead. 

Let's Fight for California! 


Go Bears! 
Jenny and Jay