Berkeley

Former Foster Child Gains Honors, Pushes for System Change

Published

12 years ago

May 5, 2014

By Andrew Cohen

Lily Dorman Colby, class of 2014, recalls how a routine visit to her pediatrician years ago led to a surprising revelation. “My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw his filing cabinet,” she said.

“I thought, ‘Whoa, you can actually find information based on names and dates and pull it up just like that?’ For me—growing up in chaos, switching beds constantly, clothes never folded, nothing kept in place—that level of organization blew my mind.”

Dorman Colby missed 52 days of school in fifth grade. With her parents unable to properly care for their family, she and her three brothers were soon ordered into foster care—and separated. Dorman Colby lived in four homes during middle school, joining a system from which only a small percentage make it to college.

So how did she earn a full ride to Yale and land high-level summer internships on Capitol Hill?

“In sixth grade, a friend’s mom almost died of an overdose right in front of me,” she said. “I realized I could try to be like my teachers, who cared about people and talked about this thing called college, or end up like so many in my neighborhood: pregnant, on drugs, or incarcerated.”

Now a fierce advocate for foster care, education, and juvenile justice reform, Dorman Colby has come a long way since sixth grade. Over the past few months, she has won an Unsung Hero Award from the Youth Law Center and a Woman of Inspiration Award from Ms. JD, a nonprofit that promotes women in law school and the legal profession.

Dorman Colby got her advocacy start as a student at Berkeley High School. There, she trained fellow students in educational inequality and gay rights and raised their awareness of racism and sexism. Elected to the only student position on Berkeley’s Board of Education, she learned about government, politics, and advocacy—and closely monitored issues affecting low-income students.

With a knack for math, Dorman Colby majored in economics at Yale. “Too many people involved in social justice don’t understand numbers, which hurts their cause,” she said. “If you’re arguing for preschool education, you should be able to explain how it pays for itself 10 times over.”

In Joan Hollinger’s Sustaining Children and Families seminar at Berkeley Law, Dorman Colby amassed copious information about the barriers to effective recruitment, preparation, and retention of prospective foster and adoptive parents. “Her final paper included a well-constructed strategy for reducing these barriers,” Hollinger said. “It deserves to become a blueprint for state and federal legislators and child welfare reformers.”

While interning at the American Bar Association, Dorman Colby drafted language that became part of a bill on foster care. She also helped persuade lawmakers to include former foster children on citizen review panels that make recommendations to child welfare agencies.

Less than a year out of the system herself, Dorman Colby became a foster parent for her autistic younger brother, David. “Because he’s a special-needs kid, I was told he’d be entering temporary placement and moving every two to three days until they could find him a permanent home,” she said. “I had to grow up real quick.” David is now a sophomore at UC Berkeley.

Dorman Colby has since fostered two other children with her fiancé and plans to foster more after taking the bar exam next summer.

“I’m grateful that my background helps me navigate very different communities,” Dorman Colby said. “My old neighborhood and the foster care system are light years removed from Yale or legislators’ offices. It’s rewarding to help connect groups that struggle to communicate with each other.”

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Activism

Black Repertory Group Needs Volunteers to Help Shape the Next Generation of Artists and Leaders

Legendary performers such as Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover worked with and were inspired by BRG’s founders. More recently, Grammy award-winning artist Kehlani attended the Black Repertory Group Summer Day Camp for several years.

Published

3 months ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy image.

By Sean Vaughn Scott, Special to The Post

For more than 60 years, the Black Repertory Group (BRG) has changed lives through the arts.

Founded in 1964 by educators and visionaries Birel L. Vaughn and Nora Vaughn, BRG has become one of America’s oldest continuously operating Black theater institutions. For generations, it has preserved culture, developed talent, and provided opportunities for young people to discover their voices and their potential.

The results speak for themselves.

Long before international recognition, Kehlani performed on the BRG stage. During a summer day camp production of “Princess and da Frog,” she portrayed Ray, the lovable firefly whose light guided others through the darkness. Her journey is proof that today’s camper may become tomorrow’s artist, entrepreneur, educator, or leader.

Located at 3201 Adeline St. in Berkeley, BRG continues that mission through its Youth Summer Day Camp of the Arts.

BRG is currently accepting applications and maintains an open enrollment program. Students may enroll throughout the summer as space permits and immediately become part of the BRG family.

We are also proud to be a multicultural opportunity program, welcoming children and families from all backgrounds, cultures, and communities. Through theater, music, dance, public speaking, visual arts, technical theater, and leadership development, students gain confidence, discipline, creativity, and lifelong skills.

As our programs grow, so does our need for volunteers.

We are seeking community members to assist with youth mentoring, registration, costumes, set construction, painting, props, ushering, photography, social media, marketing, technical theater, and fundraising activities. Whether you volunteer for a few hours or throughout the season, your support directly impacts the lives of young people.

BRG also partners with churches, civic organizations, alumni associations, fraternities, sororities, and community groups through theater party fundraisers, group sales, and buy-out performances. These partnerships have helped organizations raise funds while supporting arts and cultural programming.

The theater also serves as the home of the Berkeley NAACP Chapter, which meets every second Saturday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more than six decades, the Black Repertory Group has remained committed to one belief: every child deserves an opportunity to shine.

The next great artist may already be among us.

The next Kehlani may already be walking through our doors.

We invite you to volunteer, enroll, participate, and become part of the legacy.

For more information please go to www.blackrepertorygroup.com, call (510) 652-2120, or email info@blackrepertorygroup.com

Sean Vaughn Scott is the director of the Black Repertory Group.

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Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

3 months ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

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Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

1 year ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.