UCOP employee resource group hosts festive farewell celebration honoring President Drake

On the evening of Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the University of California Office of the President Black Staff and Faculty Organization (BSFO) hosted a festive farewell celebration for UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D.

The event began with a special video presentation of President Drake’s history created by Xavier G. Buck, executive director of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation and founder of the Black Panther Party Museum in Oakland.

Additional event highlights included:

• A renaming of the BSFO Scholarship Program to the Dr. Michael V. Drake Scholarship Program
• A live performance by Bay Area singer and musician August Lee Stevens
• A photo signed by all event attendees and given to President Drake
• A celebratory photo backdrop for guests to photograph themselves with President Drake and colleagues
• Opening and closing remarks by BSFO Executive Sponsor Paul Wiliams, Associate Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, Systemwide Procurement
• Emceeing by BSFO Executive Sponsor Yvette Gullatt, Vice President for Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs, Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer, University of California
• Recognition of President Drake by Charles Robinson, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs, UC, and Jenny Kao, Vice President and Chief of Staff to President Drake
• A champagne toast led by Dr. Renee Navarro of the UCSF Black Caucus
• Participation by all UCOP employee resource groups, as well as the UC Berkeley Black Staff and Faculty Organization and UCSF Black Caucus

Event photos