Cal Veterans Group & Cal Veteran Services Center: Hail & Farewell 2018

Join the Cal Veterans Group and Cal Veteran Services Center in bearing farewell to our graduating seniors and hailing our incoming student veterans. Our annual Hail and Farewell event will be held in the University Club room at California Memorial Stadium on the University of California at Berkeley campus. The event will feature a slideshow of pictures submitted by current students during the dinner portion followed by guest speakers and finally award presentations. Formal dinner includes salad, choice of vegan, vegitarian, tri tip or salmon, and a dessert. There will be a cash bar serving beer and wine at $5 each. Non-alcoholic drinks are available for free. Entertainment includes: DJ and dance floor; photo booth; and the best views of the Bay Area.

Event timeline:

4:45pm: Doors open

5:00pm: Cash bar opens

5:15pm: Dinner service

6:00pm: Formal presentation

7:00pm: Formal presentation concludes

7:30pm: Event concludes

Guest speakers:

Bene Werle: Vice President, Global Partner Organization Operations. Her responsibilities include Portfolio Management, Continuous Improvement, Business Operations and Intelligence, and Strategy and Planning. She oversees Cisco’s Transformation Portfolio which provides a single view of the company’s “Change the Business” initiatives and leads the Global Workforce Strategy for GBS. Previously, Werle led Operations for the Cisco Development Organization driving innovation and effectiveness through 23 Data Centers, R&D Labs, and development tools and applications. She also led acquisition integration for Engineering. Prior to joining Cisco in 2000, she was General Manager of Support Operations for RainBird Sprinkler Corporation, a global irrigation manufacturer. Additionally, she served 10 years in the United States Navy as an Engineering Duty Officer and diver. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and dual masters’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The theme of her presentation will be “incorporating military and college experience in business."

Keith Armstrong, LCSW: Keith has worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for 32 years; which doesn’t include the time he spent as an intern for the VA. He has spent 26 of his 32 years of VA employment within the San Francisco VA’s Social Work Mental Health department. He serves in multiple capacities within SFVA. He is a clinician, which requires him to see patients and lead group therapy sessions. Keith is also the director of the couples and family therapy program, student veterans program, and the administrator for the Social Work Mental Health department at SFVA. The couples and Family Therapy Program help families understand what their veteran is experiencing and aids the family in working together to achieve a positive outcome. Keith heads the Student Veterans’ Program which focuses on working with higher education institutions to provide resources to ensure student veteran success and to help veterans successfully transition from military life to civilian life. As an administrator, he supervises Master’s in Social Work (MSW) trainees working towards their LCSW and supervises the work of LCSW’s who provide mental healthcare at SFVA. In addition, Keith is a clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco’s Department of Psychology. He holds a masters’ degree in Social Welfare from the University of California, at Berkeley. The theme of his presentation will be “a life of service.”

Event info:

Parking is available next to the stadium entrance at 2175 Gayley Rd.

If you have any questions or concerns please email calvetsgroup@gmail.com