UC Retirees Association at Berkeley

UCRAB Board Activities:

The UCRAB Board of Directors is seeking nominations for Secretary, Treasurer, and 3 at-large board positions. Board Members serve two-year terms effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027. In addition to providing advocacy for staff and non-senate academic appointees at the Office of the President and State of California legislature, UCRAB currently offers events to create community.

Member Activities:

Our board members have been busy organizing community building events and social gatherings for our members. Here are some highlights:

• In partnership with the EX-L’s, we sponsored a happy hour at the Bears Lair on November 7, 2024. The pizza was a big hit, and we had about 35 attendees who enjoyed mingling with their fellow retirees.
• In December, we hosted a holiday party and had a wonderful turnout of about 60 people. We saw a lot of new faces and hopefully some of them will be engaged with UCRAB in the future. We held a raffle, and the most popular prizes were the central campus parking permits!
• On March 6, 2025, our UC Berkeley Retirement Advisory Committee (UCBRC) had the privilege of meeting with Chancellor Rich Lyons who provided us with his optimistic views of the future of UC Berkeley/Cal. In a message to the campus community, he reaffirmed his commitment to share his “resolve that UC Berkeley will stand firm in our mission to provide long-term societal benefit through excellent research, teaching and public service.”
• We updated and refreshed our UCRAB website.

Ending the report on a high note, in March 2025, UCRAB supported the Berkeley Retirement Center's participation in the campus’ Big Give fundraising event on March 13, 2025 by donating $5,000 to be used as a challenge match. This money, when combined with other similar donations, significantly increased the amount of funds raised for the Center's general fund which is sorely needed given that the center will be asked to take an 8% budget cut for FY 2025-26.

We once again want to thank Cary Sweeney and Camille Koue of the Berkeley Retirement Center for all their support to UCRAB. They make our work possible, and our partnership is invaluable.