Whenever I think about the urgent need to protect UC Berkeley, I think about my grandfathers.
My maternal grandfather, Fred Katzburg ’48, was the son of poor Hungarian-Jewish immigrants who deeply valued education but could not afford tuition at a private university. But thanks to the virtually free education he received at UC Berkeley, Grandpa Fred was able to pursue a successful career in business and send all three of his daughters back to Cal.
After the Russians launched Sputnik into space, the U.S. government – realizing that investing in America’s human capital was necessary to win the Cold War – paid for my paternal grandfather, Lester Gabriel Ph.D. ’70, to pursue his doctorate at Cal. Thanks to the advanced training he received, Grandpa Lester became a highly accomplished professor and inventor, educating literally thousands of new engineers and securing over a dozen U.S. patents.
My family’s story is not unique. For thousands of poor but hard working students, a UC Berkeley education has been the key to unlocking the American dream. Cal has created unparalleled opportunities for economic and social advancement and contributed untold billions to the California economy. And our university has fostered advances in research and teaching that have been instrumental in helping to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing the globe.
State funding of UC Berkeley has always been win-win – it has greatly benefitted both individual Californians as well as the State of California. And at a time when America is facing stiff competition in the global economy, investing in public higher education is central to the future of California and our nation.
The work that Friends of Cal is doing is even more important in light of the massive decline in state funding. Its efforts to protect and preserve UC Berkeley are absolutely critical to ensuring that the opportunities that were available to my family remain accessible to future generations.
I am proud to be involved with Friends of Cal. And I know that my grandfathers, were they alive today, would be deeply supportive of its vital mission.
– Jesse Gabriel, Class of 2004