Sociology Alumnus Charles Long was featured in an article in The San Francisco Standard titled, "Foster care, jail, homelessness, and now UC Berkeley’s top graduate at 43."
The heels of Charles Long’s shoes gave out somewhere along Telegraph Avenue.
Long had just crossed the stage at Memorial Stadium, newly minted as UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior, and was trying to make the 15-minute walk to the restaurant down the street where his family had secured a table. It took him over an hour. Strangers kept stopping him.
Then, as his feet finally found a path through the throng, the soles of his Stacy Adams dress shoes — a pair held in reserve for years in his late grandfather’s closet and barely worn — began to separate.
The heel came loose. Then it slapped against the pavement with each step.
Clap. People were still stopping him. Clap. Fellow grads were asking for selfies. Clap. They just wanted a quick word.
“I’m having to rip the heels off my shoes,” Long said, “and people are still trying to stop and talk to me.”