Homecoming kicks off this Friday
Gala weekend planned forparents and alumni

16 October 2002 | Cal alumni and parents from around the globe will converge on the Berkeley campus starting on Friday, as Homecoming & Parents Weekend gets under way.

Now in its sixth year, the annual Cal family celebration has become an increasingly popular event. This year promises to be the biggest yet, with more than 5,000 people expected to attend before the weekend winds down on Sunday afternoon.

Highlights of the celebration include a Friday-night Homecoming Rally at Haas Pavilion, more than a dozen class reunions, and numerous special events for parents — in addition to 25 faculty seminars, a range of tours and open houses, a Saturday brunch for all participants (keynoted by Chancellor Berdahl), and the Cal vs. UCLA football game. Many Cal alumni clubs, schools, and colleges host additional special events during the weekend.

Class reunions, which are planned every five years, will be held this year for the classes of ’48,’49, ’51, ’52, ’54, ’57, ’62, ’67, ’72, ’77, ’82, ’87, ’92, and ’97. Events range from a buffet supper in the Morrison Library — for the 50th anniversary of the Class of ’52 — to a “Bertola’s-style blowout” for the Class of ’77 in Memorial Stadium’s Hall of Fame Room. Members of each class will participate in a procession from the Campanile to Maxwell Family Field, where they will join in Coach Jeff Tedford’s “March to Victory,” welcoming Cal players and coaches as they step off the team bus and make their way to Memorial Stadium prior to the 4 p.m. kickoff of the UCLA game.

Faculty seminars, always one of the most popular features of the weekend, will include an assessment of the war on terrorism by Michael Nacht, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy; cosmological observations by physics professor Bernard Sadoulet; and “The Economy’s Next 20 Years: Views from the Class of ’82” with Haas School of Business associate professors David Levine and Richard Lyons. Other seminars will cover topics ranging from California politics to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and the state of ethics in American journalism.

The weekend is open to all alumni, parents, students, and friends. A weekend pass that admits the bearer to all faculty seminars, campus tours, and open houses is available for $10.

For complete details and online registration, visit the Homecoming & Parents Weekend website at homecoming.berkeley.edu/ or call 888/UNIV-CAL.