The Bushala family cutting the ribbon to officially open the new Miaad and Albert Bushala Undergraduate Commons. Photo: Noah Berger
The UC Berkeley Haas community gathered last Thursday morning for a spirited grand opening of the donor-funded Miaad and Albert Bushala Undergraduate Commons, a sleek remodeled space for students to study, collaborate, or relax between classes.
The space, located in the Bank of America Pavilion at Haas, is named for Miaad and Albert Bushala, who attended the festive opening with their two children, Miaad, BS 25, and Albert, Jr.
As “Builders of Berkeley,” a group of the university’s leading benefactors, the Bushalas have gifted more than $1 million to the university, with $500,000 earmarked to benefit the Spieker Undergraduate Business Program. Part of the family’s gift was applied toward renovating the Undergraduate Commons space, which Miaad helped design with fellow task force members during her senior year at Haas.
Miaad Bushala, BS 25, explores the new undergraduate lounge that she helped design with an undergraduate task force when she was a senior at Haas. Photo: Noah Berger
Making an impact
At the opening, her mother, Miaad Bushala, highlighted the “wonderful students at Berkeley Haas” and how Haas “always felt like home.”
She said the gift reflects their daughter’s transformational experience in the undergraduate program.
“The first week of her senior year, she volunteered at (new student orientation) camp for the very first Spieker class,” Bushala said. “She came home and told us all about it, inspired but also questioning if she would ever be able to make this kind of impact on people like she’d always wanted. This was the moment that inspired us to make this gift.”
Daughter Miaad thanked everyone at Haas as well as her parents for their support. “We feel truly honored and humbled to be in this position and their desire to give back comes from the family we’ve made here at Berkeley,” she said. “It’s really amazing how a school with over 40,000 students and faculty can feel so small, and that’s only made possible by great leadership and even better people.”
The Berkeley Haas community gathered Thursday morning to tour the bright new undergraduate space. Photo: Noah Berger
The transformation of a space
Dean Jenny Chatman thanked the family for its generous donation before the ribbon cutting officially opened the space.
“I know I speak for everyone—especially our students—when I say that we’ve been delighted to see the transformation of this space due to the incredible generosity of the Bushala family,” Chatman said. “We are so proud that we now have a beautiful, blue and gold, functional space for our undergraduates to call home.”
The Undergraduate Commons, which includes a lounge and kitchenette, was designed over four months last spring by a student task force of undergraduates. The students gathered peer input to ensure the design reflected the needs of the entire community.
The former dark and sparsely decorated space is now furnished with comfortable gold chairs, a sleek couch, workspaces, tables, and several more private study booths.
“In the past, we had one long table and one long couch in the lounge and it wasn’t very intimate,” said Ellie Hwang, BS 26, Haas Business Student Association (HBSA) president and task force member. “Now it’s a more flexible space that invites all different types of activities. The chairs and tables can be pulled apart, and groups can come together and study.”
The Bushala family joined by Haas Dean Jenny Chatman (front, middle) and Emma Daftary (back, middle). Photo: Noah Berger
“The redesign process was thoughtful and inclusive,” said Emma Daftary, assistant dean of undergraduate programs. “Our students worked hard to ensure that it would be a comfortable, bright place to gather between classes and recharge or connect with each other. The attention to detail is what makes this space special, and we are so grateful to the Bushalas for making this happen.”