Chancellor Carol Christ stands with two of her most cherished belongings, her piano and viola. Photo by Keegan Houser.
A more apt comparison to Chancellor Carol Christ’s style, perhaps, is an ensemble, in which every voice is heard and the work, as the word’s etymology suggests, occurs “together, at the same time.” Quick to deflect from taking sole praise for her accomplishments, Christ, who is retiring in June, says, “I’ve built a wonderful team in the cabinet. Nothing is a solitary achievement. It’s the achievement of many.”
“It’s so important to find a still, meditative place where you can separate yourself from all the things that keep you up at night.” — Chancellor Carol Christ
Never was this more acute than when the Light the Way campaign and the pandemic began just two weeks apart, forcing Christ and her team to compose simultaneously two of the most complex, untested pieces of Berkeley’s history — raising the largest amount the university had ever attempted, while confronting the ever-unfolding challenges of COVID-19. There were other woes and wins, and in every instance, the community, from faculty to fundraisers, students to alumni donors, stepped into the pit.
Christ is ready to write the next movement of her life’s symphony. “It’s so important to find a still, meditative place where you can separate yourself from all the things that keep you up at night,” she says. “The viola has been that for me.”
A devotee of classical music, Christ started learning the viola when her children picked up the violin and cello in grade school. She thought it would be fun to start a family trio. While that never materialized, music has remained, for her, “a place of beauty, of restoration.”
