UC Berkeley Press Release

Chancellor Birgeneau's message on the recent devastation in China and Myanmar

21 May 2008

To Berkeley faculty, staff, students, and alumni:

As three-day periods of mourning are being observed this week in both China and Myanmar, the UC Berkeley campus joins the world in grieving the terrible loss both countries have suffered from natural disasters. The death toll from the earthquake that struck the Sichuan province of China is increasing daily; the survivors of the cyclone that hit Myanmar are facing profound devastation.

How you can help

Online donations to many relief agencies can be made through Network for Good to help those affected by the earthquake in China's Sichuan province and by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. In addition, UC Berkeley's Center for Southeast Asia Studies offers a list of charities it considers best able to manage aid to Myanmar. And the New York Times has compiled contact information and direct links to agencies providing assistance in China or Myanmar.

UC Berkeley is a global community, and many members of our campus community have direct ties to these regions. I join all of our community in extending our sincere sympathy to those whose families or friends have been affected. We are shocked and saddened by all that they are enduring in the wake of these events.

As always in times of disaster, our campus stands ready to rally together and help those in need. Staff members from UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center are already in Myanmar, sharing their extensive experience in social reconstruction efforts after natural disasters. Our faculty in civil and environmental engineering — experts in earthquake engineering — are looking into ways to get to earthquake-ravaged areas of China to aid in damage assessment. Our campus is also reaching out with letters to students from both regions and aiding student groups planning relief efforts. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer will be in Beijing next week, and he will inquire as to how UC Berkeley might further offer its expertise in recovery efforts.

I know that I speak for all of us in expressing our profound sympathy to the people of China and of Myanmar as they struggle to cope with the aftermath of these profound disasters, and in pledging to do all that we can to help them recover in the days and months ahead.

Yours sincerely,
Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor