 Good morning and welcome to new student convocation. My name is Samuel Santos and I use he, him, his pronouns. And I have the honor to serve as your assistant vice chancellor for student engagement in the Dean of Students office here at the University of California Berkeley. Welcome students, faculty, staff, parents, family members and friends. As the assistant vice chancellor for student engagement, I have the joy and privilege of supporting student success at Cal. Before we begin this event, we take a moment to recognize that Berkeley sits on the territory of the Huchun, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chocheno Alloni, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Alloni people. We recognize that every member of the Berkeley community has and continues to benefit from the use and occupation of this land since the institution's founding in 1868. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible the university's relationship to native peoples. By offering this land acknowledgement, we work to make the university more accountable to the American Indian and indigenous peoples. We know that many of you are spread throughout the world and the land of other peoples and would like to take time to acknowledge that ancestral history as well. We are joined today by students from around the globe, undergraduate and graduate, new and returning, transfer and first year. Welcome all to the start of a new semester at the University of California Berkeley. With ever evolving public health considerations, it's bound to be a unique semester, but we will strive as an entire Cal community to make it an incredible educational experience that you deserve. We'll begin our ceremony with the national anthem and we ask that you rise if you're able for the national anthem. It is now my pleasure to introduce Chancellor Carol Christ. Chancellor Christ is the 11th Chancellor of the University, a celebrated scholar of Victorian literature. Chancellor Christ is also well known as an advocate for quality accessible public higher education, a proponent of the value of broad education in the liberal arts and sciences and the champion of women's issues and diversity on college campuses. Chancellor Christ. You said well, hello, my name is Carol Christ and as Chancellor, I have the great pleasure of formally, if virtually, welcoming you to the University of California Berkeley. We're delighted to have you with us as we begin this fall semester with high hopes and expectations for our return to in-person learning, to extracurricular activities and to all that makes this campus an amazing, vibrant place. Yet we're also aware of the continued uncertainties born of the pandemic's ever changing contours and impacts and in that there is cause for care and caution. With that in mind, as well as all that we have experienced in the last 18 months, I have nothing but respect and appreciation for your confidence in yourselves as expressed in your decision to continue your education in these extraordinary times. And we're humbled by your vote of confidence in this University in our ability to continue marshaling Berkeley's resources, to adapt, to innovate, to do all that we possibly can to support your dreams and aspirations and protect your health and wellbeing. You've worked hard to earn your place and we will work just as hard to help you thrive and get all that you wish and need from your time here. It's now apparent that if the challenges we have faced were unprecedented, our transition back to a new normal will also be filled with unexpected developments, some welcome, some not. Yet while we're all walking together down an unfamiliar path, I know we've learned a great deal along the way and are now better prepared to face new challenges and opportunities in the future. I believe that Berkeley and all of you are uniquely equipped to meet the demands and opportunities of these times. That we are here today with open residential halls and about to begin in-person instruction is no accident. The fact that Berkeley has to date avoided serious outbreaks and protected the health of its community while maintaining the excellence of its academic programs is the result of hard work, unity of purpose and an enduring belief in and adherence to scientific guidance. In so many ways, your resilience is a reflection upon our campus as a whole. You're joining an amazing community that has over the course of the pandemic come together in support of each other, our university and our academic mission. More than 90% of Cal's students and 85% of our faculty and staff are vaccinated. Masking guidelines are being carefully followed. Testing protocols and policies are understood and respected. Behind the scenes night and day, the unsung heroes of this campus are essential workers. Work hard to keep our facilities clean and functioning, to maintain the provision of meals and healthcare and to handle thousands of other tasks that we far too often take for granted. Our amazing faculty, the heart and soul of this campus have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and effort to smooth the transition back to the classroom and when needed for large lectures to continue their commitment to make the very best of remote instruction. I urge all of you to join and extend our communal efforts to protect ourselves and each other. Visit our constantly updated coronavirus website. Familiarize yourself with the resources we make available to support your physical and mental health. If you're unsure of something, don't hesitate to ask. The virus has intertwined our individual fates. We're at the mercy of our collective ability to treat others as we ourselves wish to be treated. Come what may, I can assure you that we will respond in the future as we have in the past with your health and wellbeing front and center, with communications both timely and accurate and with compassion and support for all who are in need. It wasn't long after I graduated from college that the wonderful Canadian musician, Joni Mitchell sang about how you don't know what you've got till it's gone. Now after many months, when it was so difficult to gather and connect, to engage in and benefit from all that a university has to offer, we're more deeply understanding and appreciating the power and purpose of community. And we're more committed than ever to ensuring that our campus community is diverse, equitable, and inclusive, offering a true sense of belonging to each and every student. A strong supportive campus community is what allows us to take intellectual risks, to continuously challenge the status quo, to learn from one another, to make manifesto societal values, to thrive amidst an amazing diversity of origins and identities. I also believe that the excellence of our university depends on diversity of thought and perspective, both of which are the result of, and profoundly enhanced by, the diversity of our campus community. And so I'm thrilled that this year, like last, we offered admission to the most diverse class in 30 years. And we'll continue with our comprehensive efforts to ensure that the world's leading public university truly represents and reflects the state and people it serves. Our quest for communal strength and connection assumes even more importance given the current salience and rising urgency of issues related to social justice. Competing for our concern and attention as the pandemic exposed and amplified societal inequities was mounting evidence that systemic racism is far from being a thing of the past in our country. In the context of our university's belief in equity and justice, we have an opportunity to rethink and re-examine how we can in the finest Berkeley fashion make the world a better place, model the change we wanna see and create a truly anti-racist university. Our campus community has stood and will continue to stand in solidarity with all who are fighting for justice and equity in our country. I believe there's great power and potential in our research, teaching and learning, and in our collective efforts as a community. At Berkeley, we are and have always been the change makers. We're showing I believe how essential the public research university is to our country and our world. Now more than ever, humanity needs people who believe in science in the notion of a greater good, injustice, equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and the truth. And these of course are the very values that form the foundation of all that Berkeley is and stands for. It's our collective responsibility to ensure it will always be so. The beginning of the school year has always been a magical time for me, a blank sheet of paper, the first page of a novel. You feel the excitement of all the beginnings that surround you, new students embarking on their college or graduate school years, new faculty beginning their Berkeley careers. It was during my own first year as a faculty member that I fell in love with Berkeley, a place where history is happening, a place that matters. It's a love, a connection that animates me to this day. This may be a challenging time, but so too is at a time of creative ferment and possibility. And that is prime time for this university and for you. There's so much happening here, so many doors to open and avenues to explore, so much to learn and experience. And so I urge you all to take full advantage of the academic riches on offer, to seek out and forge relationships with our amazing faculty and staff, to explore the opportunities for engagement and participation in extracurricular activities, to make the most of this wonderful place that is infused with passion and purpose. I'm so glad that you're here. Fiat Lux and Go Bears. We're so fortunate to have your inspiring leadership and share your excitement for the school year. Thank you, Chancellor Chris, for your clear and powerful words and your exemplary leadership. Our next speaker is one of Cal's world-class faculty. John DeNiro is an associate teaching professor in the electrical engineering and computer sciences department. He joined Cal faculty in 2014 to focus on undergraduate education in computer science and data science. Professor DeNiro teaches and co-develops two of the largest courses on campus, introductory computer science for majors and introductory data science. Prior to becoming a professor, he was a senior research scientist at Google working primarily on Google translate and natural language processing. In addition to his notable research, Professor DeNiro has received a number of awards for his teaching, including UC Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award and the Daily Cal's best faculty member. It's clear how much he cares about you, our undergraduate students. Professor DeNiro. Hi, I was asked to give you some advice about how to make the most of Berkeley. But first I wanted to say thank you for choosing Berkeley. It's so great to have you. You chose well, by the way. Berkeley is absolutely my favorite place on the earth and not just because of the weather or the beautiful buildings or the fact that we have a great chancellor or the brilliant professors with all their Nobel Prizes. It's really the students that make Berkeley wonderful for me. So welcome. I think we're all lucky to be part of this very special community and what makes it special is that we all contribute to it. So here comes first piece of advice which is really very simple. Show up and be yourself. People here really do want to get to know you. Even the professors. This really surprised me when I went to college that professors, even the ones who wrote the textbook, they're just regular people. They do like to talk about their area of expertise a lot but they usually prefer to know who they're talking to. Teaching is just more interesting when you get to know your students. In a big place like Berkeley, you can feel anonymous. Like you're just part of the crowd. And I would say you are until you aren't. If you make an effort to get to know your professors as people you can certainly do that here. It happens all the time. You just pick who you want to get to know, find some time to talk to them. But make sure that when that happens you share enough about yourself and your own interests that they get to know you too. Okay, but one related tip is that the first two weeks of the semester are not always the best time to get to know your professors because it's a busy time. So if you email them right now and you don't get a response or you show up to their office next week and there's a crowd, just try again in a few weeks and you'll probably have a much better experience. Okay, so be yourself, but also think about why you're here. And how you got here is different than why you're here. You got here by being exceptional students and the talents and achievements of this uncoming class are totally remarkable. But now you have arrived. And so you need to think about what you're doing here. I would say that the purpose of your time at Berkeley is not to demonstrate your talents and abilities but instead to discover your talents and abilities, to discover what motivates you, what makes you uniquely great. To put this another way, if you just focus on optimizing your transcript and showing the world how great you already are, you could be missing out. That's just demonstrating your existing talent and ability which I grant is vast. But instead, if you focus on learning new things, on challenging yourself while you're here, finding out what motivates you and really building new skills and knowledge that extend your existing talents, that's discovery. That's getting the most out of Berkeley. Discovery requires two things. It requires exploration and what you discover may not be what you expect. My favorite course when I was an undergraduate was called Introduction to Automata and Complexity Theory. When I came to college, I had no idea what those words meant. And this was true of several of my favorite courses. I loved a course called Lexical Semantics. I loved the course called Metaphysics and Epistemology. But when I came to college, I didn't know what those things were. And you could very well have the same experience. You might find a course that you love but you don't even know that it's out there yet. And so you got to look around while you're here. You got to talk to other students and advisors and faculty to discover what's out there. Then you have to be willing to change your plans as you go. Discovery also requires initiative. If you find a course you really like, don't just do the required parts. Do the extra reading. Extend one of the assignments in a way that's unique. Really invest yourself. And for this reason, taking as many courses as you can possibly fit is not always a good idea because a more manageable course load, first of all, is less stressful. That's good for learning. But also it gives you the time to explore and discover and create, really learn about a subject beyond just doing the kind of required parts of the course. Okay, I've said be yourself, discover yourself. This might sound all a little self-centered, maybe even selfish at a time when there's wildfire smoke in the air caused by climate change. There's a collapse of the government in Afghanistan. There's a pandemic raging. Like the world is full of actual pressing problems. Aren't they more important than just your calculus homework? Yeah, they are. And one thing I love about Berkeley students is that they care about improving the world. There are some things you can do while you're here. You can vote. There's an election in California coming up in less than a month and ballots are already in the mail. But for most of the problems that I described, the only way to address them is through a combination of expertise and trusted collaborators. And you have to build up to that. A Berkeley education is designed to provide both. Many of the people you meet here, you will find come back into your life later on. And the way to make an impact on the world in the long term is to form a supportive community here. One that lets you kind of help each other learn and succeed and build that expertise together. If you can figure out how to solve problems together here, then you can go do that out in the world. That combination of knowledge and relationships will provide the foundation for you to make a big difference. Okay, I think that's enough advice. I'll see some of you again next week in computer science class. And there, I'll just be talking about programming languages all the time. But I hope you don't forget what I said here, which is that if you be yourself, focus on discovery and build a community that actually supports each other in learning and achievement, then you'll get a lot out of Berkeley. And who knows, maybe you'll end up loving it as much as I do. Thanks and go Bears. Thank you, Professor DeNiro. We now turn our focus to some of the resources available to you from our dedicated staff and my great colleagues. Our next speaker this morning is Cal's Associate Vice Chancellor of Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admission, Femi Okindeli. Unfortunately, he couldn't join us live, but he was kind enough to record some words of welcome to share with you, Femi. Good morning, Golden Bear family. It is my distinct honor to introduce you all to the Frost class of 2025 and our new transfer class of 2023. Welcome and thank you all for joining us. I'm incredibly excited to speak to you all today. You should take pride in knowing that you all distinguished yourself amongst more than 108,000 applicants to Berkeley this year and are now here to write your chapter in the storied history of this great institution. This is more than a moment with so much racial and gender division in our nation, with the protests in our communities as calls for justice and equity grow louder by the day, this new wave of Golden Bears, both the most diverse group of scholars we've welcomed in over three decades. And I would say you all are right on time. This cohort of entering scholars has more Black, Latinx, Filipinx, native, genderqueer and gender non-conforming scholars than we've seen in recent history. Scholars from more than over 100 different countries nearly every state across the nation and every county right here in California. Many of the students are the first in their family to go to college. Many are like me, the child of immigrants. This class of scholars is not only diverse but they are excellent by every measure. They have built strong leadership through clubs and jobs and honor societies. They've logged substantial community service hours and have overcome incredible challenges both inside and outside the classroom. You know, James Baldwin once said, we have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you. You represent the very best entering colleges this year. We had an extraordinary pool of talented students but in the end, we were looking for you. Collectively, you all begin your journey at the world's best public flagship institution and university. To the class of 2023 and 2025, Berkeley has a long legacy of creating future leaders, alums that impact the world and current students who do not wait their turn to address the problems they see in our society. They get up and go for it every day. I am confident this class will include people who are ready to meet these problems, create new knowledge and make our society a better place. You know, 2021 is an Olympic year, a year of achievements and dreams coming true, a culmination of years of effort and sacrifice. And I mean this when I say there's no greater collection of gold than this incoming class of golden bears. We know that together we will change the lives of millions of people here in California and around the world. So whatever you do, whatever you are driven to pursue, drive towards it with all of your passion, effort and commitment. Your time here at Berkeley is going to be exciting. It's gonna be revolutionary. You're joining a community of scholars that is finding their moment to make their mark on this world. Your experience at Berkeley will be rewarding and provide you with opportunities to grow and stretch your minds and perspectives. Yes, your time at Berkeley will be many things, but it will not be easy. You will be challenged here, tested by our faculty and by your peers. You'll have intellectual clashes and spirited debates and you'll find that in these moments, you'll be changed or fortified in your own belief. Chancellor Christ and Berkeley family, I am pleased to present to you the Frost class of 2025 and the transfer class of 2023, the most diverse in recent history and as academically excellent as our tradition. I look forward to the many contributions they will make as they set their sights to greatness and leaving their legacies as California golden bears. Thank you all. Welcome home and go bears. Thank you, Femi. Next, it's my privilege to introduce Cruz Grimaldo. She is the assistant vice chancellor and director of financial aid scholarships. Over two thirds of all students qualify for student support. Cruz and her team manage a team responsible for distributing over $800 million to over 30,000 Cal students. Cruz. Thank you, Samuel. Good morning, scholars. A dream it seems, this scene of ages after so many changes, me greeting you back to campus. I welcome you on behalf of my colleagues, all of the hardworking and brilliant staff who are here to support you. Welcome here, welcome home, where mi casa es tu casa from Soda Hall to Sproul Plaza. And as our chancellor says and I agree, there is no place I would rather be than right here, right now. You scholars are our greatest dream realized. Days like today, when new cohorts of scholars are beginning their time at the greatest university in the world reminds us of the grand continuum. From the first ones, the early ones, to you wonderful new scholars who we celebrate today. It is all part of that mystical so on and so on. And how as golden bears we roll on and roll on from time immemorial to a future so far ahead, it becomes a loop. And it is in that following that the magic happens. The sacrifices of our ancestors who imagined us into being and the importance of our humility as we reflect back and conceive forward. I thank you scholars for trusting us to help light the way during your time here at Cal. To all of the parents, guardians, partners, supporters, siblings, other family, chosen family. This is also a celebration of you and your commitment and your sacrifices. I thank you for your love and support of these exceptional students. Scholars, you make Berkeley amazing just by being you. And by being here, you will make the world great with all that you are and all that you will be. I honor you, your commitment to yourself, your families, your communities and to your learning. It is inspiring and trust that you will be nurtured by our beautiful park-like campus, challenged by our wonderful faculty and supported by your engaging peers and us committed staff. I also want you to know that we care deeply about you and your communities. Our diverse team of professionals are here to support you every step of the way as you obtain a world-class education. Most of us were students too and we are understanding of your questions equipped with the expertise and empathetic to your concerns. While thousands of students may come through our doors, we hold sacred our responsibility as advisors and mentors to provide accurate, credible guidance attuned to your specific needs. Your scholarly development and growth is utmost. As student development professionals, we prioritize your empowerment and your agency and support you as you cultivate your holistic wellness. We want to partner with you and we are here for you. Fiat Lux, gracias and go Bears. Thank you, Cruz. Next, it's my honor to introduce Dr. Guy Nicolette, the assistant vice chancellor for university health services. As you can imagine, he has been a crucial part of UC Berkeley's response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Guy. Thank you, Samuel. And let me first say that I will echo a lot of what has already been said about our approach to community and our holding our responsibility sacred for a campus health. We really envision a campus that actually makes you healthier. I'm going to be far less inspirational and far less poetic than the folks that have come before me this hour. And I'm going to get a little bit into the weeds here to start. So as we've mentioned, we work really hard to design a system, a health system that minimizes the chances for outbreaks and clusters of COVID. We've designed testing facilities. We've worked on mass scale vaccination efforts. And we have a system that we've been very confident in and confident that we need to continue to adapt to an evolving pandemic. So I hope this serves as some reassurance for students, for the community around students. As Cruz mentioned, family supportive folks around you that we are testing, that we are vaccinating, that we have an indoor mass mandate right now that really serves us incredibly well to minimize transmission. That said, we do expect there will be cases on campus and there likely will be small clusters on campus and we are prepared to house students in isolation in quarantine and we're prepared with our very own contact tracing team to adapt very quickly to that much more quickly than frankly any other public health apparatus could because of the resources that the chancellor and campus leadership has invested in recovery from the pandemic. But we're not all COVID and we have a mental health care system that's undergoing transformation that we will start to see better access, faster access to mental health care that really suits individuals' needs rather than forcing everybody into a triage system and a wait time system that really is not sustainable. We have ongoing primary care, urgent care, social services, health coaching. So all of these sexual violence and sexual harassment prevention and advocacy. So all of these things we had before the pandemic and we are gonna continue through the pandemic and so I urge you to visit the links that we provided and just go to the University Health Services website to see the full spectrum of care that we have for our campus community. We all share responsibility in campus health and again, I really do envision a campus that can truly make you healthier when you leave, if you ever leave, than when you came. That is our mission, that is our vision. Thank you, Samwell, for the time. Thank you, Guy. And now we have a short video about our standards of community that we ask all Golden Bears to adhere to no matter where you are in the world but particularly if you find yourself physically on campus this semester. Please be sure to visit coronavirus.berkeley.edu and review the return to campus section for the most up-to-date information about face coverings and other guidelines. Can't wait to get back to campus? Wear a mask. Can't wait to get back to class? Can't wait to get back to the lab? Wear a mask. Wear a mask. All bears should be fighting this virus. Bears protect bears. Bears protect bears. Bears protect bears. Bears protect bears. Osos protegenosos. Wear a mask. Save a life. Let us unite as one community. Bears protect bears. Our final speaker of this ceremony is your ASUC president or associated students at the University of California, your campus student government. This year's president is Shaka Tlem, a third year political economy major, also pursuing minors in race and law and public policy. His passions are community rooted and stem from his desire to have a more diverse representation in all areas on campus. Shaka. Thank you. Hello everyone and welcome and coming Golden Bears. My name is Shaka Tlem and I'm honored to serve as your student body president. The tumultuous nature of politics, the pandemic and national movements has made your being here striving for a higher education a more impressive feat than ever before. I can say without a doubt that remote learning has not been easy for many of us. I mean, when I first came to Cal, I didn't expect to be spending most of my time in breakout rooms. Even the strongest of us have struggled with acclimating to a reality and constant flux where everything we dreamed of experiencing was lost. Congratulations to senior programs. Yet with meaningful sacrifice comes even greater reward starting with some of the best years of your life here at the University of California Berkeley. While each of your experiences are unique, your capacity to excel amidst unprecedented adversity has brought you here today. A commonality that bonds us all. Let that be the driving force and the discovery of the person you are and the scholar you hope to be. I still remember sitting in my dorm room that first night in unit one with no idea of what the next day had in store. I remember the swirling uncertainty scrolling through Instagram, trying to put names to faces. Looking back, I still remember being shocked at how accomplished my peers were. At some point this year, when someone mentions a nonprofit they've started or an office they've interned for, you may feel like you don't belong. Like your acceptance was a mistake. I understand where that imposter syndrome can come from. After all, for some of us, falling victim to the prison system is more likely than rising to a place like Berkeley. That very reason is what makes our presence here all the more necessary. Regardless of whether you're a first-generation college student or a fifth-generation legacy, you belong here. Who would have thought a Texan woman marginalized by Jim Crow segregation would have a grandson who would one day become the president of the best public university in the world. Berkeley is a place where you can live your ancestors wildest dreams. While we are working to build a better Berkeley and improve things like equity, access and belonging, what makes our university is its diversity. It's essential that we use this time to break down barriers, to refute stereotypes and create the blueprints for the next generation. In college and especially at a place like Cal, it's easy to look at your peers as competition, the people you have to one up. But the last and most crucial thing I wanna leave you with today is the importance of working together. As student body president, my administration and I will do everything in our power to make your lives easier, safer and more fulfilling. But I won't be there when you're stuck in the library on the final question of your econ problem set or cramming for your computer science midterm. But the people you meet in the coming weeks will be. They'll be right there beside you, adding their piece to this beautiful mosaic. Now, when I feel like I did that first night in unit one, wondering what the future will bring, it's not with uncertainty, but excitement. You are now unequivocally a part of the Berkeley family. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to seeing you all on campus and say hi if you see me. See you outlux and go baby. Thank you, Shaka. Thank you all for joining us for our new student convocation ceremony. Although we cannot be together in person, it's still an honor to be able to share campus community with you. To our new students participating in all that Golden Bear orientation has to offer. Enjoy your time and make those connections with your departments, groups and organizations that will really help you thrive here at UC Berkeley. Remember, if you have any questions, the GBO Help Desk is available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, both virtually and in person on Upper Sproul Plaza. To our newest Golden Bears, welcome. And to our returning ones, welcome back and go Bears. To everyone, we wish you all a pleasant and healthy start to the semester. Ceremonies at the University of California traditionally conclude with Hail to California, the University Alma Mater. Today's performance is from Deccadence Acapella. Please join in in singing and go Bears. Let's go to Calif, a joyful convict foreign.