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Berkeley Co-ops

The Berkeley Student Cooperative Alumni Association

The BSCAA (formerly the USCA) is a 501(c)(3) charity composed of alumni who lived, worked, and learned together in the Berkeley Student Cooperative.

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LearnAbouttheBSCAA

Learn About the BSCAA

For 25 years we’ve helped BSC alumni keep in touch and give back to the co-ops.

We’ve funded undergraduate scholarships, hosted house-level alumni reunions, provided assistance to college students experiencing homelessness, created a bond program to help undocumented co-opers arrested for immigration-only offenses, collaborated with local cooperatives, donated tens of thousands of dollars to support the BSC through COVID-19, and put on countless events connecting alumni with students and each other.

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Meet the Board of Representatives

Portia Lewis
President

Portia Lewis
Jim
Vice President

Jim Ausman
sean
Secretary

Sean Sowell
Afsheen
Treasurer

Afsheen Lebastchi
President

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.

Vice President

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.

Secretary

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.

Treasurer

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.

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Share Your Story

We love hearing from you about your time in the co-ops!

Email us photos, memories, or fun updates at bscaa1996@gmail.com. We’re currently exploring ways to compile and celebrate our alumni’s co-op experiences, and we’d love to chat more with you.

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Join the BSCAA

We’re able to fulfill our mission thanks to our alumni members! If you’re not one already, please consider joining the BSCAA as an annual or lifetime member. Feel free to reach out to us at bscaa1996@gmail.com or (415) 685-3943 with any specific questions; we’re happy to chat.

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