ABOUT + POLICIES

The Berkeley Pulse

Mission

The Berkeley Pulse is a student-run media organization committed to covering Cal athletics, campus culture, and student creativity with accuracy, fairness, and heart. We aim to highlight voices that often go unheard, document Berkeley life as it is lived, and publish work that reflects integrity, curiosity, and care for our community.

Origins

The Berkeley Pulse was founded in 2025 by UC Berkeley student Morgan Garcia in response to a clear gap on campus: a need for a media space that could move fluidly between sports reporting, campus culture, interviews, and creative expression — without losing humanity or rigor.

From the beginning, The Pulse was built to be accessible, collaborative, and grounded in lived student experience. In its first semester, the organization has produced consistent coverage of Cal athletics, conducted interviews with student-athletes and community members, published creative writing by students, and begun building workshops and collaborative spaces for storytelling on campus.

The Pulse continues to grow as a student-led platform focused on honest reporting, thoughtful creativity, and community-centered media.

What We Cover

• Sports reporting & postgame coverage
  Game recaps, features, interviews, and on-the-ground coverage of Cal athletics.

• Campus & culture
  Student life, campus issues, professor spotlights, and stories that shape Berkeley’s everyday reality.

• Interviews
  Conversations with student-athletes, students, professors, alumni, and community members.

• Creative writing & storytelling
  Poetry, fiction, essays, and experimental work by student writers and artists.

Team

Executive & Editorial Leadership

Morgan Garcia — Founder / President / Editor-in-Chief
Leads editorial vision, sports coverage, interviews, publishing standards, and organizational direction.

Mohamed Alderei — Vice President
Supports operations, coordination across teams, outreach, and internal communication.

Samantha (Sammy) Diaz — Social Media Manager
Manages publishing cadence, short-form clips, audience engagement, and platform growth. Assists with graphic design and website management.

Mark North — Multimedia Manager
Recruits and manages a team of photographers and videographers, working alongside social media manager and section editors to send different contributors to events.

Jamie Mayer, Lauren Lutge, & [Open] — Senior Editors
Oversees editorial quality, revisions, clarity, and consistency across written content.

[Open] — Operations Secretary
Oversees organizational records, internal documentation, and administrative coordination.

[Open] — Development and Community Lead
Manages fundraising efforts for The Pulse and leads team-bonding activities. Executes socials after community workshops.

Arts & Entertainment Editors

[Open] — Arts & Entertainment Editor
Leads local arts and entertainment coverage, spotlighting artists, hosting short-form interviews and articles, and building creative community through on-campus reporting.

Sports Editors

[Open] — Sports Editor
Leads sports coverage, features, interviews, and game-day reporting. Assigned 1-2 beats for each semester

Culture Editors

Daniel Velazquez — Culture Editor
Focuses on campus culture, documenting the daily life of students.

Noah Mendieta — Culture Editor
Expertise in housing issues and assists with editing within the culture team.

Emilio Carmonascheker — Culture Editor
Interested in activism and political issues that effect the students of UC Berkeley and the greater community.

Creative Writing Editors

Chase Charles — Creative Writing Editor
Supports creative submissions, feedback, and featured literary work. Focused on philosophy.

Sienna Villalobos — Creative Writing Editor
Assists with curation, editing, and creative programming. Strong interest in short stories.

Jonny Vasquez — Creative Writing Editor
Assists with submissions, feedback, and creative initiatives. Creative writer in poetry and short story.

Contributors & Community

The Berkeley Pulse is open to contributors of all experience levels. Writers, photographers, videographers, and artists are welcome to participate at their own pace. Contributors who demonstrate consistency and care may be invited into leadership roles in future semesters.

Editorial Standards

The Berkeley Pulse follows clear editorial principles modeled after professional newsrooms and student media best practices:

• Accuracy comes first — names, quotes, and facts are verified before publishing

• Transparency is essential — errors are corrected openly

• Conflicts of interest are disclosed and avoided

• Subjects are treated with respect and fairness

• Fabrication, manipulation, or misleading edits are not permitted

• Clear distinction is maintained between journalism, opinion, and creative work

Our goal is to tell honest stories without sensationalism or harm.

Community Guidelines

We welcome thoughtful engagement and conversation. To protect our community, the following are not permitted:

• Hate speech, harassment, or discrimination

• Doxxing or sharing private information

• Spam or bad-faith engagement

The Berkeley Pulse reserves the right to remove comments or content that violate these guidelines. Concerns may be reported using the contact information below.

Corrections

If we make an error, we correct it promptly and transparently.

Corrections or clarifications can be sent to:
editor@theberkeleypulse.com

When a correction is made, the original story will be updated with a clear note indicating what was changed and when.

Contact

📧 Email: editor@theberkeleypulse.com
📍 Location: UC Berkeley
📱 Social Media: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (@theberkeleypulse)

For general inquiries, submissions, or collaboration requests, please reach out via email or our contact form.