Golden State Today

UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons outlined his vision for the campus during his first Campus Conversations event on Thursday. He discussed future funding arrangements aimed at stabilizing core parts of the campus, including sports teams and deferred maintenance.

Lyons, who has been in the role since July 1, used the event to reintroduce himself to the Berkeley community. He emphasized his Bay Area roots and long-standing ties to Berkeley. Lyons noted that many faculty and staff are exhausted due to ongoing budget constraints amid decreasing state funding for higher education.

“Part of why we’re exhausted is because we’ve been living through perennial austerity,” he said.

He posed a question to the audience: “Could we paint a picture together where in 10 years, Berkeley has reached a state that we would all describe as financial strength, or even, if you just push it further, financial thriving?”

Lyons expressed optimism about achieving this goal while adhering to Berkeley’s core values. Following a successful capital campaign that raised over $7 billion under former Chancellor Carol Christ, Lyons is working with donors to direct future contributions toward essential campus operations such as libraries, humanities research, doctoral students, and deferred maintenance.

Citing data from PitchBook that ranked Berkeley as the top university globally in 2024 for generating startups, Lyons envisioned a future where equity from these startups could significantly boost campus funding.

“This is going to be a steady-state engine,” he said. “No private university educates at our scale. No public university researches at our quality. Berkeley is not just outstanding; it is unique.”

Lyons also mentioned potential changes in funding for Cal Athletics. He plans to make major sports like men’s football and basketball self-supporting and seek endowments for other sports programs.

Regarding recent rankings by U.S. News and World Report placing Berkeley as the No. 2 public school in the country, Lyons highlighted other rankings from The Wall Street Journal, PitchBook, and Forbes that have also recognized Berkeley's excellence.

On protests and free speech, Lyons reiterated Berkeley’s commitment to encouraging free expression while consistently enforcing existing rules. Addressing underrepresentation of Black students and other groups, he emphasized efforts to increase acceptance rates among admitted students.

“People have to want to come here. Belonging needs to feel real,” he said. “… We’re getting better, and we’ve got to keep getting better.”

Lyons also shared personal updates about moving into University House with his wife and their dog Winston.

“We want to be all in,” he said. “We want to be present.”