Supporting the Order and Senior Hall
The Order of The Golden Bear and its operations are supported entirely through the generosity of its members and the general public. The Order does not receive financial or other support from the University. Gifts to the Order are 100% tax deductible and the Order accepts matching gifts from donors’ employers and business affiliates. Anyone interested in supporting the Order and/or Senior Hall can go to https://give.berkeley.edu or contact the Alumni Secretary of the Order at alumnisecretary@ogb.berkeley.edu.
The Order of The Golden Bear Fund
Frankness, Tolerance, Diversity of Thought
Your gifts to the Order of The Golden Bear enable this student-led campus think tank and service organization to continue its solution-oriented, critical thinking approach to the most pressing challenges facing the University of California. Created in 1900 by the student leaders of the University at the request of President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, the Order continues in its second century of strong service to the University through the frank, honest, and tolerant exchange of diverse opinions and ideas about the increasingly complex challenges facing students and the campus today. One of the oldest student-led organizations at the University of California, the Order’s students, faculty, administrators, and alumni hail from almost every dimension of the campus community and strive to achieve the greater good of the University. https://give.berkeley.edu/fund/FH0220000
The Senior Hall Fund
Tradition, Service, Future
Your gifts to Senior Hall support the renovation and ongoing needs of this important campus treasure, the oldest student services building in the entire University of California system and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed and built in 1905 by renowned UC Berkeley architect John Galen Howard at the request of the students of the Order of The Golden Bear — and funded by the students of the Order with support from Phoebe Apperson Hearst — Senior Hall continues to be the home of the Order, a diverse, student-led, campus think tank and service organization that focuses on a solution-oriented, critical thinking approach to the most pressing challenges facing the University of California today and tomorrow. The oldest log cabin on any college campus west of the Mississippi River, Senior Hall also provides a unique meeting space for campus student groups and departments. https://give.berkeley.edu/fund/FH0222000
The Henderson Family Endowment
Legacy, Respect, Purpose
Victor Hendricks Henderson is the first signature in the “Perpetual Roster” of the Order, its official list of members that has endured for over one hundred years. After graduation, Henderson remained a firm servant and friend of the University for many years, serving as Secretary to the Regents from 1903-1918 and later as President Wheeler’s personal secretary.
In the 1950’s Victor’s sister, Gertrude Henderson ‘95, who became a teacher at Berkeley High School after her graduation, left a bequest in the form of a trust for her family, and stipulated that when the trust ran its course the residual funds should be given to the University of California, Berkeley. Gertrude led the family in determining the University as the designation for Victor’s estate, and to honor her brother, his sister stipulated that if the Order of The Golden Bear was still functioning, that the distribution of the funds must first involve a discussion with the Warden of the Order. The University could not have the funds unless the Warden was consulted on their use by the University.
In 2013, the discussion between the Warden and the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost resulted in the establishment of a major endowment to support students in Berkeley Connect, a student/faculty mentoring program extending from the Chernin Program which began in the English Department - Charles Mills Gayley’s own department in 1900 - as well as establishing a modest endowment to help support the maintenance and rehabilitation of Senior Hall - a facility used by many student groups.