From the Coachella Valley to Berkeley and beyond, Cal Bears in the Desert is part of a community of alumni, students, families, and friends who carry the Berkeley spirit with them.
This is where we share stories that highlight our chapter, our alumni, our students, and the work happening across the desert. Explore local and campus coverage featuring Golden Bears connected to our community from student achievements and alumni leadership to scholarships, community partnerships, and the people making a difference throughout the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.
One Bear. One community. One desert.
🐻 Chapter Newsletters
🐻 Chapter Newsletters
There’s always something happening in the desert.
Every few months, Cal Bears in the Desert sends a newsletter straight to your inbox with the latest from our alumni community upcoming events, chapter updates, volunteer opportunities, student and alumni stories, and ways to stay connected to Berkeley right here at home.
Whether you’re a lifelong Coachella Valley resident, a recent graduate, a parent of a Golden Bear, or someone who simply wants to stay connected to Cal, our newsletter is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch.
Catch up on past issues below, or join our mailing list to get the next one delivered to your inbox.
May 2026 Newsletter
Summer Send-Off details, alumni volunteer call, and a farewell to the 2024–2026 Board term.
March 2026 Newsletter
Spring Admissions Reception save-the-date, plus CAA scholarship volunteer opportunities (TAAP & TLA).
February 2026 Newsletter
Our first monthly alumni update — featuring alumna Olivia Rodriguez’s Desert Sun feature and local event roundups.
December 2025 — Year in Review
A full look back at 2025: the Campus Dinner, Spring Receptions, Summer Send-Off, and the Coming Home Speaker Series.
November 2025 Newsletter
Our chapter relaunch issue — the College & Career Fair, and the launch of the Coming Home Speaker Series.
In the News
Amid Air Quality Concerns, Valley Students Ask ‘Will Change Happen?’
By Jennifer Cortez
January 12, 2026 | The Desert Sun
Cal alum Olivia Rodriguez, a program manager with Youth Leadership’s Coachella Unincorporated, helped guide a youth-led research project that turned months of interviews and surveys into “Take a Breath for the Future” — a bilingual zine on air quality in the eastern Coachella Valley.
Youth participants conducted 51 interviews and collected 185 surveys near sites like the idle Desert View Power Plant in Mecca, translating their findings into essays, artwork, and a set of concrete public health demands for local decision-makers. [Click to Read More].
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].
Cal alum Chris Escobedo was officially named Palm Desert’s city manager after six months in the interim role, with the City Council praising his thoughtful, inclusive leadership style.
Escobedo outlined plans for the city’s next chapter — growth in north Palm Desert, a new CSUSB campus partnership, a possible Shops at Palm Desert redevelopment, and projects funded by the city’s Measure G sales tax. [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].
Before the Blue and Gold: Summer Welcome Parties Across the Years
By Urja Upadhyaya
May 28, 2025 | Cal Alumni Association
CAA’s look back at the coast-to-coast tradition of Summer Welcome Parties featured Cal Bears in the Desert’s own Coachella Valley send-off as its cover image — a testament to how far the chapter’s tradition has grown since chapters nationwide began hosting these gatherings.
From lakeside picnics to virtual band performances during the pandemic, the piece traces how alumni chapters have kept incoming students connected to Cal spirit long before they set foot on campus. [Click to Read More].
Meeting and Greeting the Newest Golden Bears
By Josephine Thornton
September 27, 2024 | Cal Alumni Association
Cal Bears in the Desert posted its best Summer Welcome Party yet in 2024, with a record turnout of nearly 100 attendees from the Coachella and Imperial Valley areas — the largest gathering in CAA’s nationwide roundup that year.
Alumni chapters across the country welcomed incoming Golden Bears with swag, stories, and Cal spirit, from Chicago’s blue-and-gold gift bags to the Rocky Mountain chapter’s housing meetups. [Click to Read More].
Cal Bears in the Desert Launches First Paid Alumni Data Internship
By Cal Bears in the Desert
OCTOBER 2023 | Chapter News
Three local Coachella Valley students — Brian Lopez, Hector Romero, and Keila Lopez — joined the chapter’s first-ever paid summer internship this year: the Alumni Data Collection and Inventory Project. Over eight weeks, the interns dug through decades of chapter records to build a comprehensive database of alumni dating back to the 1960s.
The project reached over 400 Cal alumni from the Coachella Valley spanning 40+ majors and 70+ campus activities — and gave the interns hands-on training in data gathering, interviewing, and community outreach along the way. [Click to Read More].
Golden Bears Get a Warm Summer Welcome
By Josephine Thornton
September 27, 2023 | Cal Alumni Association
Cal Bears in the Desert hosted two separate 2023 send-offs — one for Imperial Valley students, one for Coachella Valley and Palm Desert students — both featured in CAA’s nationwide Summer Welcome Party recap.
Chapters from Chicago to Central Park shared their own welcome traditions, but the desert chapter’s dual-region approach stood out as a model for reaching students across a wide geographic footprint. [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].
Cal Alumni Welcome Our Newest Golden Bears
By Cal Alumni Association
September 30, 2022 | Cal Alumni Association
Cal Bears in the Desert was one of 34 chapters featured in CAA’s nationwide Summer Welcome Party recap for 2022, alongside chapters from San Francisco to Chicago to Phoenix.
The roundup highlighted how alumni chapters nationwide welcomed incoming first-year and transfer students back in person after the pandemic years. [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].
This CAA guide to staying connected after graduation features a 2020 photo of Cal Bears in the Desert alumni welcoming incoming freshmen — used as the example for “Join an alumni chapter,” one of nine ways CAA recommends staying involved.
The piece also covers renewing your Berkeley email, getting an alumni library card, and joining CAA’s career networks. [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].
