Sept. 27, 2012

The manner in which our Cal community stepped forward in 2011-12 to support our department and student-athletes has unfolded as nothing short of inspirational. The wide swath of initiatives, challenges, grants, gifts, volunteerism and service that this diverse family has injected into Cal Athletics will have a lasting impact that bodes well for our student-athletes - past, present and future - and the University that serves them.

From all of the fans who have become part of the Endowment Seating Program in the renovated California Memorial Stadium, to those who have spurred new levels of commitment and energy in every one of our 29 intercollegiate sports - it is your collective will that sustains us. Be on the lookout for the IA Annual Report coming this autumn, when we will share our stories of excellence and recognize you, our Golden Bears, for your support. Each of us associated with Cal Athletics is grateful for all you do to enable our student-athletes on their journey to victory in the classroom and on the field.

Thank you and GO BEARS!

Sandy Barbour
Director of Athletics

Bedrock for the Foundation
Barry Baskin

Barry Baskin

Serving as the athletics representative on the UC Berkeley Foundation's Board of Trustees and providing steady support for men's tennis, for which he played at Cal from 1960 to his graduation in 1964, is Barry Baskin. His appointment in October as the trustee that represents Intercollegiate Athletics ended the impressive term of Mark Biestman.

Barry and Susan Baskin are lifelong Cal fans and supporters across the campus and holders of two premium seats at Memorial Stadium. He is a former member of the Big C Society Board of Directors, from 1982-86; chair of the TeamCal Tennis Committee, from 2003-10, which came after his first, five-year stint on that committee; member of the Athletic Department Volunteer Leadership Council, from 2003-05; and member of the Building Champions Campaign Committee, from 2009-10.

Barry continues to be an active member of the University Athletics Board, the Bear Backers Advisory Board and the Endowment Seating Program Committee. For his infinite commitment to volunteerism in support of Cal Athletics, Barry received the 2010 Golden Bear of the Year Award.

"I could never give back to Cal as much as its given to me," he said.

Challenge to New and Old
David Eckles

David Eckles

The Eckles Challenge Grant is a $500,000 one-time gift to Intercollegiate Athletics, a commitment by David Eckles, a 1973 alumnus of the Haas School of Business who sees how crucial it is to exponentially increase the percentage of Cal alumni who give.

"Fifteen to 20 percent should grow to 90 percent," Eckles said of the Cal alumni participation rate.

The retired chairman and CEO of Helm Financial Corporation, Eckles is also working to create new scholarships and cooperate with the director of the Athletics Study Center, Derek Van Rheenen, to improve that resource for student-athletes.

It's the totality of the student-athlete experience, and directing support to its areas of most need, that draws Eckles.

"My point is to give some focus and create some energy, looking beyond the sports that are always in the spotlight," he said. "I want to put a spotlight on all the sports and encourage others to realize this is what we all need to be doing."

Teaming Up with Men's Gymnastics
Lisa and Douglas Goldman

Lisa and Douglas Goldman

It was another busy year for the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund in 2011-12. After making the lead donation of $1,000,000 to retain Cal baseball, the foundation was asked to similarly inspire donors to men's gymnastics. Specifically, it created a dollar-for-dollar matching grant to be applied to every new donation until it reaches $100,000.

"We hope that Cal's gymnastics community will respond," said Doug, who earned his AB at Cal in 1974. "This challenge grant, along with the much larger commitment we made to Cal baseball, is intended to restore all of Cal sports to what they were before the unfortunate but necessary cutbacks were proposed."

The initiative by the Goldmans is but a stepping stone toward the larger goal of creating endowments that will permit longevity and sustainability for each of Cal's sports. Thanks to Lisa and Doug, the entire Cal community can make their dollars doubly important by supporting men's gymnastics.

This Bear is Always There
Joan Herriges

Joan and Bruce Herriges

A former UCBF Trustee and Bear Backer President, member of the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Society, and recipient of the Trustees Citation and the UC Berkeley Foundation Award, Joan Herriges is a Cal supporter extraordinaire. Her volunteer work began in the late '80s as a member of the Women's Athletic Council.

"The culture of sports binds the University together," Herriges said. "My involvement in Cal Athletics as a volunteer allowed me from the very beginning to see other areas of the University and become more interested in supporting them."

Joan attended Cal football games as a young girl from East Oakland and has rarely missed a game since. She said attending games, whether football, basketball, volleyball, rugby or anything else, creates its own community and "binds people together."

Joan and her husband, Bruce, have watched generations of families grow up in Memorial Stadium and are thrilled to be returning. "Walking into the remodeled stadium will be a sentimental day and thrill for Cal fans," she said.

Helping to Engineer Success
Dustin and Melissa Harder

Melissa and Dustin Harder

Melissa and Dustin Harder met at and graduated from Cal in 2003 with their degrees in civil engineering, and they both still travel from their home in Portland, Ore., to home football and basketball games and follow the teams on the road quite often.

In 2011 they created the Dustin & Melissa Harder Scholarship, currently held by sophomore defensive back Stefan McClure. The Harders then extended their pledge to further support men's basketball.

"We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Cal and it meant a lot to us," said Dustin. "We met there, we met a lot of our friends there, and we wanted to give that opportunity to other individuals. Athletics is a great avenue for that. For people to compete as part of a team and go to a great school like Cal, it really says something about them and their ability to succeed."

Sustaining Baseball's Momentum
Dan McInerny

Dan McInerny

In 1981, one year after he and his teammates finished third in the nation at the College Baseball World Series, Dan McInerny got his geography degree from Cal with a minor in Spanish.

The former walk-on right-fielder, cofounder and current vice president of sales and marketing at OluKai, Inc., in Irvine has since helped Cal baseball resurrect itself from near extinction by helping the program to navigate its way into modern methods of community building and better speak the language of an active, sustainable athletic program.

The vice chair of the Cal Baseball Foundation, McInerny was the chief architect behind the website for Save Cal Baseball, which has evolved into the foundation since the team's retention in IA after 2011. Together with the Facebook page created by Doug Nickle and Twitter feed set up by James Holder, the site proved to be an important ingredient in the outreach efforts to build baseball's community and database.

"The most important thing is that everyone rallied, from five to 50,000 dollars," McInerny said. "The whole thing was teamwork to make the dream work. But let's remember, we have not saved Cal baseball in perpetuity. We need to continue to communicate and give back to pave the way for future generations."

Making Baseball Fly
Roslyn Payne

Roslyn and Lisle Payne

A Builder of Berkeley whose son Matt pitched for the Bears in 2001 and '02, Roslyn Payne is a major baseball supporter who created the First Pitch Scholarship Dinner, a sold-out celebration last Feb. 12 whose net proceeds were directed to scholarships for Cal baseball.

The president of Jackson Street Partners in San Francisco, Roslyn earned her BBA at Michigan and her MBA at Harvard, but said she is "thrilled that both my son and husband (Lisle, MBA 1967) are Cal graduates."

Payne credited the entire Cal Baseball Foundation, from chairman Stu Gordon, who became the 2011-12 Golden Bear of the Year award winner, all the way down, for its efforts to broaden the community's thinking and sustainably enlarge the program footprint.

"Our work is not done here," she said. "We need to keep working. The runway is in place, but if you want to get an airplane to fly, you have to plan for it."

SoCal Sparkplug
Tom McKissick

Tom McKissick

The group managing director for TCW, which offers individual and institutional investing services and is based in Los Angeles, Tom McKissick has been a boon not just to baseball as a voting member and donor representative on the Cal Baseball Foundation, but to the entire athletic department through his commitment to better engage a large base of alumni in Southern California.

A UC Berkeley Foundation trustee, 1984 recipient of a degree in political science and football donor, McKissick is also part of the SoCal Committee and has been a big ingredient in successful Coaches Tours, co-hosting events since 2004 and working with others to better consolidate the fragmented community of alumni in his part of the state, which boasts approximately 80,000 Cal graduates.

McKissick has worked with other members of the SoCal Board - including Richard Sandler, Jon Glaser, Cyrus Hadidi, Victor Coleman, Jeff Marks, Robert Brunswick, Alex Shipman, Bob Smiland, former All-America Bear quarterback Pat Barnes and others - to make big strides for the Bears in SoCal. "There is great potential for Cal in Southern California," he said. "There are many passionate Golden Bears roaming around Los Angeles, looking to reconnect with Berkeley and provide much-needed support to the numerous athletic and academic needs of Cal. There is much work to be done, but Cal is making steady progress."

Courting Excellence
Kent Newmark

Kent and Pat Newmark

A 1960 BA and 1964 MBA at Cal, Kent Newmark has been a very busy Bear Backer. Following his commitments to help establish a short-game facility for the golf programs and the implementation of the Newmark Award for Best and Most Improved GPAs, Kent and his wife, Pat, have turned their attention to upgrades to the facilities serving men's and women's tennis.

Their lead gift of $750,000 will help to create elevated seating along the north side of the courts, visiting locker rooms, public restrooms and hopefully more over time.

Men's head coach Peter Wright called the Newmarks' commitment "terrific from every standpoint. We already had a surface that's the best on the West Coast, but these improvements will be huge and will help to qualify Cal to host Pac-12 events. They're very important upgrades."

Crew is Rogers' Neighborhood
Andy Rogers

Andy Rogers

Andy Rogers '90 became president of the Executive Committee for Friends of Cal Crew toward the end of 2011 and has continued to lead the community in its support of the programs.

Andy was instrumental as Friends of Cal Crew raised an impressive amount of money in 2011-12 and has been steadfast in his effort to carry that commitment to the program's alumni, parents and friends. He is the son of accomplished entrepreneur T. Gary Rogers '63, a transformational leader for the men's crew program.

Andy (pictured with children, Jordan and Jaclyn) most recently traveled to London to cheer on Cal's seven rowers at the Summer Olympics, which included men's eight coxswain and Friend of Cal Crew fundraiser Zach Vlahos, as well as both programs' coaches, Dave O'Neill for the women and Mike Teti for the men.

Tent of Support
Georgia Lee

Georgia Lee

The impact of a parent's love and support cannot be overstated. In the case of Georgia Lee, a 1976 Haas MBA alumna and senior advisor at the private equity investor Hellman & Friedman, her invaluable energy has extended from the support of her son, rising senior Michael Shenk, to the entire rowing program.

This spring, Lee and fellow parents reached their $100,000 fundraising goal for the second straight year (after raising almost as much in 2009-10); just as importantly, they helped to create a hospitality presence for fellow parents and all Cal fans that had been missing at rowing events.

Now, a Cal tent is pitched at every race, offering supporters of Cal crew a place to gather for hot coffee served with blue-and-gold community.

"We now have a very active parent group that accompanies the team at every regatta," she said. "It's fantastic because you see the impact the parents actually make. And when you get involved, it's a lot fun. We have a common cause and common beliefs."

To explore additional ways to support Cal Athletics, please call the Office of Athletic Development at (510) 642-2427, email calbearbackers@berkeley.edu or visit CalBears.com/bear-backers/home.html. Help us make the 2012-13 year our best yet.