Afsheen Lebastchi

Cloyne 1996-98, Rochdale 1998

Afsheen has worked at Google for the past fifteen years in various leadership roles. Prior to that, he worked at Intel. He also received a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. He is a Bay Area native, lived in Berkeley as a child (on Hopkins Street) and now lives in San Francisco. He’s been active with BSC fundraising and is on the Political Economy Advisory Board at UC Berkeley. He loves to travel.

Anne Hadreas

(Wilde 2000-01, Fenwick 2002-04)

Anne Hadreas (she/her) lived in Oscar Wilde House and Fenwick Weavers’ Village from 2000 to 2004 and hopes to be able to contribute to the system that was very formative for her. During Anne’s time in the co-ops, she held various positions, including house president, social manager, waste reduction manager, and AdCom representative. Anne was also on the board of directors for two years. She is now an attorney working in the judicial branch, primarily on mental health policy. Anne enjoys creating policies and rules (love Robert’s Rules of Order) and planning events. Anne hopes to be able to set up more opportunities for alumni to connect and give back to the BSCA.

Brigitte Davila

(Ridge, Le Chateau, Rochdale, Fenwick Weavers 1979-81)

Brigitte Davila (she/her) spent ‘79 through ‘81 living it up at Ridge Project, Le Chateau, Rochdale, and Fenwick Weavers—though Le Chateau will always be her. She served as Secretary of the Student Board at Ridge Project (writing meeting minutes Herb Caen style) and House Manager at Le Chateau (surviving switchboard chaos, rooftop luaus, and an impromptu solar eclipse trip). Now, a retired college professor and former elected San Francisco trustee, Brigitte credits the co-ops with teaching her how to run a meeting, wrangle a budget, organize folks, and throw legendary parties—all essential life skills. She’s up for building a BSCAA that’s as fierce, funny, and community-minded as the houses she called home back in the day. She brings decades of leadership, deep Chicana roots, and a love of collective mischief to the board. Let’s keep the spirit alive—statute of limitations and all.

Ginger McCleskey

(Chateau 1979-82)

Ginger lived in Chateau coop (now HIP house) from January 1979 until her graduation in spring 1982.  During that time, she enjoyed various work-shifts including Switchboard Manager, Social Manager, and especially Dessert Chef on Homecook nights.  She graduated with a BA in Psychology, and has been self-employed for the last 40 years. Her interest in being on the board is inspired by her desire to give back to the co-ops, which were a key component of her college experience; all her college-era friendships were made at Chateau, and the opportunity to live and work and attend house meetings with her peers was broadening in many ways. As the cost of a UC Berkeley education has soared into the stratosphere, the importance of an affordable place to live has never been more important, and today’s students face many additional challenges.  Ginger looks forward to finding opportunities to “pay it forward” by joining the BSCAA board.

Jim Ausman

Chateau House 1990-93

Jim served on the Board of Directors of the USCA for two years, mostly as the VP of Finance. He was the Board President one summer, the summer they decided to foreclose on Barrington and get it back from the man they had sold it to. Other accomplishments were to raise rent slightly to tackle the backlog of deferred maintenance and to allow any students from any college to join the USCA, not just Berkeley. There was a vacancy problem in this era. Jim would like to add more structure to the Board’s projects and goals and his experience as a Project Manager proves useful therein.

John Ehrlich

Barrington Hall 1974-77

BS Business Administration. John had many elected positions at Barrington Hall leading to being the House Manager. at Barrington. He was on the USCA Board when we bought Lothlorien, Kingman & Chateau & sold Oxford. and, in 1977, was elected President of the USCA. After 32 years of service in the San Francisco PD, John retired as a Captain. For many years his family & he enjoyed the Lair of the Bear 5th week Gold. John has served on the BSCAA Board since 2012. He lives in Berkeley with his new wife, Sandy whom he met when house manager at Barrington Hall.

Kevin Ramirez

Nancy Blattel

Barrington 1973-75, Rochdale 1975-76, Northside Apartments 1976-80

Nancy is currently Data Management Lead supporting UC’s database for fundraising and engagement needs. In 1996, she founded the BSC alumni association with a group of dedicated alumni who valued their experience, wanted to give back, and knew other alumni would want to as well. At the BSC, Nancy served on the student board and was vice president for three semesters. She graduated in 1977 with a degree in Social Welfare and then worked at the BSC Central Office in the housing department. She has had a long career of leadership with the Better Business Bureau and the Cal Alumni Association.

Portia Lewis

Casa Zimbabwe 2018-20, Rochdale 2020-21, Hillegass and Parker – HiP 2021

Portia first moved into Casa Zimbabwe (CZ or Die) in 2018 after transferring to UC Berkeley following four fantastic years at community college (CC). While at CC she earned two AS degrees in Natural Science and in Social and Behavioral Science, as well as, an AA in Anthropology. At Cal she double majored in Anthropology, BA and Conservation and Resource Studies, BS. It would be an understatement to say living in the Berkeley Student Cooperative changed her life. Portia had the opportunity to be the Non-Perishables Coordinator at CFS, and work as a Herstorian, Workshift Manager, and House President while living at CZ. She then moved to Rochdale and then Hillegass and Parker (HiP – formerly Le Chateau), while at HiP she was the Kitchen Manager and Community Builder. Not to mention she made memories and the friends of a lifetime. She graduated in 2021 and continued to remain heavily involved with the BSC. She was one of the lead organizers of the Save Rochdale Coalition and is currently involved with the ongoing lease negotiations. She is grateful for the opportunity to be on the BSCAA Board, and she plans to use the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the BSCAA and BSC, fundraise for the Rochdale remodel, and to plan for the future of the BSC/BSCAA.

Sean Sowell

Lothlorien boarder 1984, Kingman 1984-89, Northside 1989-92

Sean (he/him) was born in Boston and grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts. He earned a BA in Psychology in 1992 and credits the USCA for making it possible to work his way through school at Cal. He served as Kingman’s Board member in 84, House President and Workshift Manager in 85, House Manager 86-88, as Board President in the Summer & Fall of 88, and as Kingman’s and Northside’s House President in 89 (concurrently). He led membership referenda 1 (84), 2 (86) and 3 (88) that eventually closed and sold Barrington in 1989. His twin sons are Matt and Nick. He served as Zephyr Teachout’s volunteer deputy texting director in her 2018 run for New York State Attorney General, leading a team of 275 volunteers nationwide who contacted 1.01 million registered Democrats in New York with a cell phone. He misses Warren Zevon, Harry Chapin, and Johnny Cash, and regrets never seeing Warren in concert. He drives for GrubHub, used to work for Open Heart Kitchen in Pleasanton, and still delivers meals to folks who are hungry. He welcomes the chance to return his service to the BSC. USCA President Emeritus.

Suzanne Olivier

(Barrington Hall 1978-80, Rochdale Apartments 1980-83)

Suzanne (she/her) lived in Barrington Hall from Fall ’78 to Fall ’79, and then in the Rochdale Apartments from Fall ’80 to Spring ’83. Suzanne was a switchboard supervisor at Barrington for part of the time she lived there. Suzanne has worked in publishing as a developmental editor of STEM educational materials her whole career. Suzanne still works as a freelance editor. She also has some experience with marketing and communications. Living in the co-ops was life-changing for her; Suzanne still has friends she met in Barrington in 1978. She would like to be able to give back and to keep the co-ops as a viable and vibrant option for current students. She is especially interested in mentoring early-career students in the communication areas.