I am excited to update you on our successes over the past year and to share some upcoming changes which are on the horizon for the Public Service Center.

In 2013, our faculty, student leaders and staff built healthy communities on and off campus.  Berkeley United in Literacy Development (BUILD) provided critical reading support to over 1,200 students in Berkeley and Oakland, the most ever for the program. 2013 marked the inaugural year of the Peter E. Haas Public Service Leaders Program with 18 need–based scholarships awarded to committed student leaders.  Cal in the Capital sent 75 students to D.C. who interned at organizations ranging from  congressional offices to think tanks. We also grew our team, welcoming Rajelin Escondo in Student Group Advising, Dominique Herrera and Rosa Ortega as BUILD Equity Fellows, and Fela Thomas in Leadership Programs.

Looking towards the future, the Public Service Center is slated to re-locate to its new home in Lower Sproul in 2015.  The Center will have its own dedicated floor in the new student union, placing public service at the heart of campus.

The Public Service Center’s impact is far reaching, and our unique model combining student leadership, community partnership, and faculty engagement is what it is today because of the support of people like you.  We invite you to partner with us as we continue our work building lifelong commitments to public service.

Mike Bishop,
Public Service Center Interim Director

Student profile
Bernadette Rabuy
Political Economy, Spring 2014
Hometown: South San Francisco, CA

“I have learned to value the voices and the expertise of those who are sometimes silenced by society.”

Bernadette Rabuy has been an active leader in several Public Service Center programs. In 2011, she participated in the Center’s ... 

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Alumni profile
Adilene López Valenzuela
Ethnic Studies, 2012
Hometown: Bell Gardens, CA

"It’s such a beautiful feeling when your college friends become your professional allies.”

When Adilene reflects on the impact the Public Service Center, formerly Cal Corps, has had on her life she remarks, “Being a part of ... 

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Partner Spotlight
Regina Jackson
President and CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center

“I don’t have to wait for the annual report to see our impact every single day.”

The Public Service Center is fortunate that Regina Jackson (BS, 1984) is as passionate about ...

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Did you know. . .

• The Public Service Center was founded in 1967 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017
• Each year students contribute 300,000 hours of community service, the economic impact of these service hours is approximately $6.3 million dollars
• The Center’s unique student leadership model engages 200 student leaders who work with 6,000 students and more than 250 different public agencies and schools
• The Center is the third largest student employer on the UC Berkeley campus, employing 80 student staff and 300 literacy tutors
• The Center supports 23 programs and three student run coalitions focusing on issue areas such as; sustainable agriculture, the rights of the incarcerated, human trafficking, poverty, and maintaining arts education
• Our student leaders point to the experiences gained through the Center as critical and formative to their careers at Berkeley and beyond