Cal Family - 

It continues to be an exciting time in Berkeley, where impressive performances, inspiring innovation and plans for the future can be found in every corner of campus, including in the Athletics Department.  

Haas Pavilion was buzzing down the stretch of the regular season with the atmosphere that YOU all created. Our men's basketball victories over SMU and Stanford -- which gave us a season sweep over our rival -- were reminders of the type of home-court advantage we can provide. We were especially heartened by the turnout of our students at those games, as they helped bring the experience to a higher level. There is no better place to spend a winter evening than Haas Pavilion, and it's been great to have dignitaries including Steph Curry, Adam Duritz, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Ivan Rabb in the building this winter, providing an additional injection of energy. The team is 21-8 and in the national conversation as they build a resume for postseason play, and we are so grateful for your support throughout the season.  


Our women's basketball team celebrated a memorable Senior Day with a big win over SMU and then beat Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The team is 19-14 and now awaits a possible postseason berth.  

You may have seen that our men's swimming & diving team won its second consecutive ACC championship two weeks ago in Atlanta! Coach Durden's reputation of having his teams peak at the right time seems to be holding up again. Meanwhile, our women's swimming & diving team is enjoying a resurgence, finishing third at ACCs, behind only seven-time defending champion Virginia and No. 3 Stanford. Both of our teams should be a force at the NCAA Championships later this month.

Beyond the court and pool, our Olympic sport programs continue to excel, as we currently have nine teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. It's shaping up to be an exciting spring season for the Bears!  

With Super Bowl LX hosted at Levi's Stadium last month, the excitement was felt in Berkeley as well. We were thrilled to watch alums Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson start for the Patriots -- both are such fantastic representatives of our football program, athletic department and university. The Super Bowl brought some of our most recognizable alums back to the area, and we were excited to see the likes of Jared Goff, DeSean Jackson, Cam Jordan, Marshawn Lynch and others pay a visit to campus. We also were able to bring the community together with the Celebrity Sweat Flag Football Challenge at California Memorial Stadium. Keenan Allen participated along with other celebrities such as Quavo, Dwight Howard, Dustin Poirier, Adrian Peterson and more. We look to host more of these types of events moving forward as we continually look to better monetize CMS.  

Make sure you save the date of April 18 for our Football Spring Game at CMS! More details to come, but it promises to be a fun-filled day as Coach Lupoi finishes
off his first spring leading the team. Spring practice begins on March 18.

We've had the good fortune of hosting some inspiring and meaningful events recently, serving as a reminder of the potential and possibilities that Berkeley always presents. On February 4th, we hosted the Winning Analytics Summit at the University Club inside CMS. Born from a vision of Chancellor Lyons and Matt Levin '88, the idea was to leverage one of our campus' greatest resources -- the brains of our faculty, staff and students -- to g3.ain a competitive advantage in intercollegiate athletics. The event brought together 100 of the brightest people on campus, including faculty from numerous disciplines, students majoring in data science and engineering, alums in the fields of data analytics and sports, and Cal coaches and staff. A special thank you to the impressive lineup of speakers, including Jay Sartori, the ACC's vice president of sport technology and innovation, and Berkeley faculty members Dr. Tarik Zohdi of the College of Engineering and Economics professor Dr. Lisa Goldberg. As Chancellor Lyons said, the event was "quintessential Berkeley."

Also in January, we hosted our annual "For The Love Of The Game" gala where we were able to celebrate the legacy of our former legendary baseball coach, Bob Milano. It was an incredibly special evening honoring Bob's enormous contributions to our university, as we welcomed over 250 guests to share reflections on the lasting impact he made on Cal and Cal baseball.

As we celebrated Black History Month in February, our DEIBJ Office hosted a fireside chat with England and Liverpool FC soccer legend John Barnes at the University Club, with more than 150 people in attendance, including Liverpool fans, members of the local soccer community and Cal staff. The event centered on a discussion about the Black experience in the beautiful game, with Barnes reflecting on the highlights of his long career, including his experience with racism. He then joined a panel discussion with our men's soccer head coach Leonard Griffin, Cal women's soccer alumna and Bay FC striker Karlie Lema, and other luminaries of the soccer world, with the conversation also touching on the upcoming World Cup hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

We are excited to welcome Tara and Steve Danielson as our new Donna Fong Directors of Field Hockey. The coaches have a combined extensive track record of success at their previous stops and they are ready to hit the ground running as they take over for Shellie Onstead, who retired last month after 31 seasons at Cal.

We recently attended ACC meetings in Charlotte, where conversations about the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics are ongoing. Much of our discussions surrounded the implementation of the NCAA House Settlement and "above the cap" NIL. In that regard, we were excited to announce our partnership with TheLinkU, to strengthen name, image and likeness opportunities for Golden Bear student-athletes and provide new opportunities for brands, businesses and the Cal community to engage.

Mark your calendars for a couple of fun upcoming events - Cal Night at the Sharks on March 21st and Cal Night at the Giants on April 24th. We've really enjoyed these collaborations with our other Bay Area sports teams and hope you can join us!

Please also circle March 12th on your calendar, as Big Give is next week! This is an exciting day for the campus and the Cal community as we come together to make a lasting impact for our current and future student-athletes through this 24-hour giving initiative. Make sure to check out all the challenges and matches on this day, as any gift, no matter the size, helps teams secure additional funds. 

We are extremely grateful for our Cal community! Go Bears!




Jenny & Jay