The Alumni Guide Program was launched in August 2020 by the Development and Alumni Engagement Office in conjunction with the Student Services Office. It was intended to be a temporary program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions which closed the Berkeley campus. New student orientation and in-person classes were cancelled. Nearly 300 alumni volunteered to personally welcome our entering 1L and transfer students to our community via Zoom or phone, and many participants recommended that we continue this program once on-campus activities resumed.
Our objectives for the program remain the same as during our inaugural year: to welcome our newest students to the Berkeley Law community, and to answer any questions or concerns they may have as they begin the initial phase of their legal careers. Ultimately, we hope that these students will come to appreciate the warmth and humanity that underpins the Berkeley Law community.
Guides are matched with a student via the Berkeley Law Connect platform in late July. Guides are asked to contact their students in late July to welcome them to the Berkeley Law community and to help answer questions about transitioning to law school. Guides then check in with their student at the end of September to see how the student is adjusting to Berkeley Law.