Discover inspiring stories, community highlights, and the real impact of Cal Bears in the Desert in local and campus media. From student journeys and alumni achievements to community partnerships and scholarship initiatives, our news showcases how our vibrant Coachella Valley network is making a difference—one Bear at a time.
Browse through our collection of articles and learn more about the people and programs that keep the Berkeley spirit alive here in the desert.
Before Berkeley Begins: A Coast-to-Coast Welcome for Incoming Students
By Urja Upadhyaya
October 1, 2025 | Cal Alumni Association
Before a lecture is heard, before a roommate is met, before the eucalyptus trees of campus whisper their welcome, there’s this.
A summer day. A shaded park. A backyard strung with Cal flags. The laughter of alums. The quiet questions of parents. And somewhere in the middle of it all: a student wearing a brand-new Berkeley tee, surrounded by people they didn’t know an hour ago, but now can’t wait to see on campus.
This is the magic of UC Berkeley’s Summer Welcome Parties, where new beginnings meet old traditions, and where the Berkeley community shows up before the first day of class even begins.
At the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Cal Bears in the Desert kicked off the season with an early send-off that blended warmth with wisdom. Students and parents from the Imperial and Coachella Valleys gathered to hear from alums, current students, and campus representatives…[Click to Read More].
A trailblazer for educational justice, Ruben Canedo leads with vision, charisma and community-building
By Gretchen Kell
August 4, 2025 | Berkeley News
A rainbow in the clouds. A visionary. A hustler, in the best sense. The Forrest Gump of Berkeley. A force of nature.
None of these is Ruben E. Canedo’s job title. But that’s how UC Berkeley’s director of strategic equity initiatives is described by those who know this charismatic scholar-activist best.
Even the uninitiated are drawn to the joyful dynamo — a 4th degree black belt in karate with a hearty laugh, waist-long hair and brilliant ideas.
Canedo’s focus and passion is educational justice for students with basic needs insecurity at Berkeley, in California and beyond. Recent data from the California Student Aid Commission show that 66% of postsecondary students in this high-cost state are food insecure, and 53% lack secure housing. [Click to Read More].
‘Grief can coexist with happiness’: How one student found her way to UC Berkeley
By Anne Brice
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 | Berkeley News
After a sudden family tragedy in 2021, college seemed like a faraway dream to Coachella Valley High School sophomore Natalie Araujo.
As a young kid growing up in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, Natalie Araujo didn’t like school. She felt unwelcome, like an outsider looking into a world she’d never fit into, no matter how hard she tried.
In first grade, she often stayed home to look after her younger brother, Adrian, as her parents worked long hours in low-wage jobs — her mom, in an agricultural factory and her dad, in construction. [Click to Read More].
Palm Desert couple provide scholarships to ‘unrecognized’ students
By Eric Sandoval – Special to The Desert Sun
AUGUST 5, 2022 – 12:02am | The Desert Sun
Luisa and Oscar Armijo, co-owners of the Armijo & Associates, a CPA firm in Palm Desert, have rewarded almost 200 scholarships to local college-bound Latino students that have excelled in academics, overcome socioeconomic challenges, and demonstrated social responsibility.
The Armijos have been residents of Palm Desert for more than 40 years and in their time, they’ve realized the gap between students from the valley and other higher-earning income areas. The gap between these students isn’t potential or education but opportunity. [Click to Read More].
More than a Mirage: Cal Bears Provide Real Community Support for Students in Coachella Valley
By Cal Alumni Association – UC Berkeley
APRIL 7, 2021 – 11:20am | CAA Announcements
Being a new face in a big place can be overwhelming—nearly all UC Berkeley students will tell you that. You try to find where you fit in, but nothing seems to fit quite right at first. Classes are challenging, you’re away from home for the first time—it’s a lot to take in. Discouragement sets in and you might second-guess your decision to be there. Then, maybe you meet someone from your hometown and they invite you over for dinner.
The Cal Alumni Association’s Cal Bears in the Desert Alumni Chapter Started as a dinner during Homecoming and evolved into an organization serving students [Click to Read More].
Alumni Show Up for Students and Each Other at Summer Welcome Parties
By Cal Alumni Association – CAA Announcements
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 | CAA Announcements
In Southern California, alumni from all walks of life send a strong welcome message to new students.
Southern California chapters hosted four Summer Welcome Parties over two weekends for students and alumni. Incoming students engaged with alumni and current students in Zoom breakout rooms, and enjoyed Cal Band music and Cal-themed trivial games [Click to Reach More].
From Trailer Park to UC Berkeley, and Back Again: One Young Woman’s Commitment to Coachella
By Sasha Khokha, Host – The California Magazine | KQED
APRIL 13, 2019 | KQED – Inform. Inspire. Involve.
When it rains in the Eastern Coachella town of Thermal, it can get so muddy that cars often get stuck on the unpaved roads running parallel to the lettuce fields. That makes it hard for farmworkers to get to their homes at Camp Fremont, a tiny Park at the end of a long dirt road.
It’s clusters of mobile homes, some with plywood covering holes in the walls, far from streetlights, supermarkets, and cell phone services [Click to Read More].
Many Eastern Coachella Valley natives are returning. Their mission? To Advocate for their Community
By Ricardo Lopez and Janel Wilson | Palm Springs Desert Sun
JANUARY 28, 2019 | Palm Springs Desert Sun
Thermal native Christian Paiz, a UC Berkeley history professor whose research specialty is the UFW labor activism in the Coachella Valley, explained that the history of activism in the valley dates, which dates back decades, has informed the values of the region, particularly around racial and economic justice.
“There’s a real sense of trying to take care of each other. You go home to help your family and in the process of doing that, you go home and you recognize that the problems that your family are facing are much bigger than just your family” – Christian Paiz [Click to Read More].
Couple builds bridge to Berkeley for Coachella Valley’s brightest, neediest youth
By Gretchen Kell, Media relations|
JANUARY 24, 2019 | Berkeley News
Hilda Zarate-Cervantes badly needed a champion. It was March 2015, and the high school senior had just landed an in-person interview for a coveted UC Berkeley scholarship that, for her, would mean a full ride.
Zarate-Cervantes lived in Thermal, a rural, desert community in Southern California’s Eastern Coachella Valley. [Click to Read More].
Cal Bears in the Desert 