UCR Magazine

’s Fall 2012 Issue: First Generation College Students, the Chancellor and the Balloon, and More

UCR Magazine's Fall 2012 issue is now available; here's the story behind the cover

By Lilledeshan Bose on October 11, 2012

Richard Valdez took this photo of Chancellor Timothy White rescuing a boy’s balloon and shared it on UCR’s Facebook page. Thanks, Richard!

Last year, 59 percent of the University of California, Riverside’s incoming freshmen were the first in their family to go to college. In UCR Magazine’s Fall 2012 issue (which you can read it in print, online or on your iPad), we share the lives of these first-timers. What challenges do they face, and what is UC Riverside doing to help them through their academic journey?

We also introduce some amazing characters at UCR in this issue. You’ll meet our new Vice Chancellor for Research and Development, Michael Pazzani; Costo Professor of American Indian Affairs Clifford Trafzer; and lecturer Kawai Tam, who has helped engineering students win recognition for their amazing inventions.

UCR Magazine’s Fall 2012 cover

If you like our cover, you’ll enjoy hearing the special story behind it: At this year’s commencement ceremonies, Chancellor Timothy P. White was congratulating a few graduates when a little boy tugged on his robe.

The chancellor picked him up and put his regalia tam on the boy’s head, but the boy — who didn’t speak English — wanted something else. He kept motioning up to a balloon stuck in a tree.

Being the tallest person around, the chancellor got the balloon down by using a chair and a garbage can as a step ladder, then hooking the balloon string with a pair of glasses.

Chancellor White said, “When I got down, I lassoed the string around the boys wrist so it wouldn’t slip off again.  I thought he’d be happy.  But no, he kept pointing up with grave concern.

Finally a family member told me another balloon had left his little grip and gone up into the sky, and he wanted that one back as well.”

For us, that story symbolized  UCR students’ aspiration and ambition, as well as UCR’s commitment to helping students reach their goals. It became the inspiration for our cover.

Archived under: Inside UCR, Kawai Tam, michael pazzani, Timothy P. White, UCR Magazine

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