UC Berkeley Names Formerly Incarcerated Student Charles Long as 2026 University Medalist

Before he walked the stage at Memorial Stadium as UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior, Charles Long Jr. had to make a choice.

Standing in his room, he looked at a traditional suit jacket and a plain black hoodie. One represented conformity; the other represented his raw, authentic journey through the carceral system, housing instability, and ultimate resilience. He chose the hoodie—and that same uncompromised authenticity carried him straight to a perfect 4.0 GPA and the campus’s highest academic honor.

From experiencing homelessness on the streets of San Jose to mentoring incarcerated students at San Quentin, Charles has transformed his lived experience into a powerful blueprint for criminal justice reform. The California Bureau brings you the exclusive, deep-dive feature on how this newly minted alumnus is transitioning from navigating the system to actively dismantling its barriers from the inside out.

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