New Report on Opportunity Model for Developing the Berkeley Global Campus in Richmond

A public community workshop will be held tonight in Richmond to release a new report offering up analysis and recommendations on the development of the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay. The Structuring Development for Greater Community Benefit: An Analysis of an Opportunity Model for Developing the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay report recommends that a public-private partnership model with a Community Development Entity (CDE) be considered. A CDE is a duly organized entity treated as a domestic corporation or partnership that has a primary mission of serving a low-income community. If a CDE was established and secured a development contract with UCB, the model would guarantee a share of project profits are reinvested in the Richmond community. 

“The Berkeley Global Campus presents a historic investment opportunity, and the finance model will determine to what extent the benefits of the investment respond to the actual needs of the Richmond community,” said Eli Moore, a co-author of the report and program manager of the Haas Institute Richmond Partnerships program. “The CDE finance model could provide funding that approaches the scale of existing economic needs in Richmond, which may otherwise be achievable.” 

This report is part of a larger body of research exploring ways in which the development process for the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay can be structured so that the development is aligned with community well-being and leveraged to reinvest substantial resources to the Richmond community.

The free and public workshop takes places tonight, Thursday, Oct. 8, from 6:00–8:00 pm in the Madeline F. Whittlesey Community Room at the Richmond Public Library in Richmond, CA. RSVP for this event. 

HAAS INSTITUTE LGBTQ CLUSTER EVENT THIS FRIDAY, OCT. 9

From Caitlyn Jenner to Rachel Dolezal: The Social Construction of Race and Gender

Over the summer, media coverage of two women, Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal, sparked a heated public conversation about identity and change. This panel will engage the discourse concerning the extent to which race, gender, and sexuality are socially constructed and can change, and whether we should accept all assertions of self-identity. Are race, gender, and sexual orientation similarly situated? Might we reject some claims of racial identification, even as we affirm all assertions of gender identification? Should people of color welcome whites who wish to identify as a racial minority, at least insofar as such people are fighting for racial justice? How has the media spotlight on Caitlyn Jenner’s identity impacted more marginalized transwomen, including those who are poor and of color?

Speakers Include:

• Devon Carbado, The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
• Cecilia Chung, Senior Strategist,Transgender Law Center
• Ian Haney-Lopez, John H. Boalt Professor of Law, UC Berkeley Law
• Sonia Katyal, Professor, UC Berkeley Law

Moderated By:
Russell Robinson, Distinguished Haas Chair in LGBT Equity, Professor of Law at Berkeley Law

October 9, 2015
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Berkeley Law
Warren Room 295
Click here to RSVP

"Space becomes place when people, social movements, governments, and others are recognized as shaping and shaped by what happens in our neighborhoods and communities," said Jason Corburn, the new director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD). Corburn's research interests include urban environmental health and policy, environmental justice, health impact assessment, and climate change. In this interview with the Haas Institute, Corburn discussed the importance of addressing chronic health inequities, how location can determine life chances, and upcoming plans for IURD. Professor Corburn is  an Associate Professor of Public Health and City & Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, and a member of the Haas Institute Diversity and Health Disparities research cluster. Read the interview with Jason Corburn.

David Card, a member of the Haas Institute Economic Disparities research cluster, recently co-authored a report that revealed that low income students, largely of color, were massively underrepresented in the gifted program of a Florida school district, in great part because of the process by which students were chosen to be tested as "gifted." The article, published by the Washington Post noted, "Critics say gifted programs amplify inequality because they disproportionately recruit children from high-income families—another example of how opportunity accrues to those already blessed with opportunity." Card agreed, “this study suggests that there is a lot of talent out there that people are missing.” Read the article.

Irene Bloemraad, a professor in the Department of Sociology and a member of hte Haas Institute Diversity and Democracy research cluster, published a report which found that immigrants and their descendants in the United States have improved outcomes in terms of education level, occupational distribution, income, and language abilities as described in an article in The Daily Californian. The report also detailed trends in health, crime rates, and divorce rates among immigrants. Much of Bloemraad's research focuses on how immigrants are incorporated into political bodies. Read more about Professor Bloemraad's research.