Spring 2022

My transition and time here at Berkeley, both online and in-person, cannot be possible without an energizer. I’m not talking about an energizer that can keep me awake all day, I’m talking about an energizer that fuels me through the semester, through the spaces where I fail to find people who look like me, through the spaces where all I hear is English and never Spanish.

Thirty-nine percent of UC Berkeley undergraduates and 16 percent of graduate students report a lack of consistent access to healthy, affordable food, among other needs. Berkeley’s Basic Needs Center (BNC) is a caring community that connects students to food, housing, financial, health, and other resources.

Extensive research has shown that college students thrive, and their academic performance improves, when they have a strong sense of belonging. That’s why UC Berkeley has proactively worked to increase students’ sense of belonging through its innovative Berkeley Connect mentoring program.

Founded in 2010, Berkeley Connect matches undergraduates with graduate-student mentors and places them in small groups with other students who share their interests — providing them with personalized attention and a community...

“Truly lost.” That’s how Ivan Chavez says he felt when he arrived at UC Berkeley in fall 2018. The first-generation college student, who’d spent most of his life in Tijuana, Mexico, couldn’t find people he identified with, or a campus path to help him discover his academic passion — one involving history, politics, research, and public service.