Tom Butt
 
  E-Mail Forum – 2014  
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  Update on "Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay"
October 29, 2014
 
 

Mayor and Members of the City Council:

As you know, we have been working for several years now with staff from the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) on development of the Richmond Bay Campus along the southern shoreline.  We learned informally this week, and it has now been made public, that University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Dirks is setting a new strategic direction for development of the Richmond campus in a way that expands UC Berkeley’s educational and research activities in a global context.

What began two years ago as a second research campus for LBNL at the Richmond Field Station, and later evolved more broadly into the Richmond Bay Campus, has further evolved in its vision to be the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay (BGC).  The BGC will be patterned after what several American universities have done to establish a physical presence overseas through the construction of a foreign campus.  These overseas campuses typically involve partnerships with other global educational institutions.  What UC Berkeley will be seeking to do in Richmond is to achieve this same type of global engagement by building an international campus on American soil in partnership with other global universities.  The plan for the new BGC includes at least one Global College, and many new research partnerships and collaborations, all with extensive engagement with the UC Berkeley campus and with the local Richmond community.

There will undoubtedly be much more information concerning this new vision coming from the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Office over the next few days, weeks, and months.  One thing that the Chancellor’s Office has made clear is that UC Berkeley remains committed to the Richmond community, and to this project being a catalyst for developing the southern shoreline.  The Chancellor has also reiterated the tenets of the Joint Statement of Commitment made by UC Berkeley and LBNL to partner with the Richmond community throughout development of the campus.  These tenets revolve around local opportunities in education, hiring, procurement, and workforce training.  The Joint Letter also called for the creation of a Richmond Community Working Group to develop recommendations on these important topics.  I am a member of this Working Group and will provide updates when recommendations are made.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require any additional information.

Sincerely,

Bill Lindsay

Bill Lindsay
City Manager
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, California 94804
(510) 620-6512
Bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us


 

 
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