Alumni

For Skyelar Montgomery, receiving the African American Initiative Scholarship in 2021 heavily influenced her decision to attend UC Berkeley. It enabled her to forego worrying about the financial costs of college and focus instead on seizing every opportunity she could that nurtured her leadership abilities and passion for serving the Black community: as a senator in the Associated Students of the University of California; as the head of public relations for the Haas Undergraduate Black Business Association; as vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically African American sorority...

As a student at UC Berkeley, Helen Kirkby was no stranger to the libraries.

Kirkby, who studied political science and history, remembers digging through the Free Speech Movement papers for a research project, poring over old newspaper articles on a microfiche reader, and studying medieval manuscripts from The Bancroft Library.

Morrison Library, tucked...

As a student at UC Berkeley, Helen Kirkby was no stranger to the libraries.

Kirkby, who studied political science and history, remembers digging through the Free Speech Movement papers for a research project, poring over old newspaper articles on a microfiche reader, and studying medieval manuscripts from The Bancroft Library.

Morrison Library, tucked within Doe, was her “hidden gem” — a favorite place to visit between classes or catch up on work.

Trier Mortlock used the libraries in a slightly different way.

“If I’m being honest, when I came to the library, it...

In this interview, Valerie shares the inspiration for her self-published series, Cocoa Kids Collection, which centers minority and multiracial children as they "tackle big issues with wit, whimsy, and chocolate." Read on to learn how Valerie's experience at UC Berkeley has influenced her work and research, and to...