Calserve

Founded in 1984 around the successful movement to divest UC funds from the South African apartheid, Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education (CalSERVE) is a multicultural coalition of progressive students and student organizations that continues to make change on campus and in the world. CalSERVE fights for access, representation, and social, environmental, and racial justice, and utilizes the resources of the ASUC and the power of community organizing to make these things possible. In addition to pressuring the UC administration to divest from apartheid in South Africa, CalSERVE was successful in electing Pedro Noguera, now a distinguished professor of education at NYU, as the first black President of the ASUC from 1984-1986. One of the first efforts of CalSERVE leaders was working with faculty to create the American Cultures requirement to expose all Berkeley undergraduates to coursework in critical cultural studies. Through the years, CalSERVE has remained committed to its progressive principles, even in difficult times. In 1987 and 1988, when homophobic hysteria was sweeping the country, CalSERVE ran the two of the first openly gay male and female candidates for the ASUC Senate. Both candidates won their seats. In recent years, CalSERVE has brought some of the most pressing issues to the forefront of the public agenda. Alongside brave activists, CalSERVE’s in Solidarity” campaign in 2013, followed by the “Cal Consent Campaign” in 2014, sparked a national discussion on sexual assault on college campuses. In 2014, CalSERVE was an original founder of the “Half of Us” campaign at UC Berkeley, which sought to destigmatize mental health issues and demand improvements in mental health care. Recently, CalSERVE has been a leader in discussions of food insecurity, affordable housing, police reform, environmental justice, and campus climate. For more information, please visit: