From certain angles, 2011 at UC Berkeley resembles that iconic New Yorker map of the U.S., in which the nation shrinks into insignificance at the edge of the Hudson River. November’s student protests cast a shadow, yes, but it’s all there just the same. So fiat lux. Let there be light.
A broader perspective reveals that 2011 did not, in fact, begin and end with Nov. 9. And while memories of that day remain fresh, a review of the entire year finds a campus occupied, as always, with a dazzling variety of interests and activities — the everyday fabric of the university, that is — unrelated to crises, controversies and cutbacks. There was also, lest we forget, one especially memorable event even Berkeley doesn’t get to celebrate every year: the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to our own Saul Perlmutter.
The pictures tell the story, and it’s one of engagement, passion and perseverance in the face of challenges, whether institutional or personal. Before we close the book on Berkeley 2011, then, here’s a glance back, month by month.