UC Berkeley on Saturday publicly launched the largest fundraising campaign in its history, to raise $6 billion by the end of 2023.
The ambitious goal aims to secure UC Berkeley’s status as the world’s top public research and teaching university. The Light the Way: The Campaign for Berkeley, has already raised $3.4 billion since its quiet phase began Jan. 1, 2014.
Major gifts announced at Saturday evening’s event at Memorial Stadium included an anonymous $252 million gift, the largest single gift Berkeley has ever received, to seed construction for a home for Berkeley’s new Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society, and $50 million from Gordon Rausser, former dean of the College of Natural Resources, will boost Berkeley’s leadership in addressing environmental and health challenges.
In announcing the campaign, Chancellor Carol Christ said proceeds will do much more than “simply sustain the status quo.”
“I am thrilled that we are now on the way to providing students with more housing, scholarships and modern academic facilities, even as we expand the ranks of faculty and develop new learning and experiential opportunities,” she said. “As our students benefit, so does the public we serve at a time when Berkeley’s societal and academic role has never been more important.”
UC Berkeley News: At Saturday event, Berkeley kicks off $6 billion 'Light the Way' campaign