Jul 29, 2019

On the weekend of July 20, Brian Patrick Gialketsis left the earth unexpectedly. A 2017 Rhetoric and Conservation and Resource Studies double major, Brian received the Rhetoric-in-Action award upon graduation.

Brian cared deeply about the Earth and for those who inhabit it. He was passionate about environmental justice. Since his graduation he has been the Coordinator of Berkeley’s Green Initiative Fund (TGIF). He inspired the Berkeley campus to commit to sustainability by creating new programs and initiatives. If Voltaire had known Brian, he would have seen a person who had truly cultivated his own and the community’s gardens. Words and deeds were taken from him far too soon. Brian’s family will hold a memorial in his honor. 

If you would like support in dealing with Brian’s loss, please contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (510)642-9494. CAPS supports the emotional, psychological, educational, social, and cultural development of all UC Berkeley students through a wide range of multiculturally based counseling, psychiatric, career, consultation, training, and educational services. If outside of business hours, please contact the After-Hours Assistance Line at (855)817-5667.*

*These are both confidential resources.

2017 Rhetoric-in-Action Award for Brian Gialketsis

Brian has now taken three courses with me, and with each class I am more and more impressed by his intelligence, integrity, and modesty.  Brian has received  a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies (with a focus on Political Ecology and an honors thesis on multiscaler critical discourse in Political Ecology) and a BA in Rhetoric. His work in rhetoric, at least in my classes, has been superb.  But it is his involvement in social and environmental programs (since Freshman year) that I want to note here. Passionate about environmental sustainability, Brian decided early on at Cal to join his activism, interdisciplinary rhetorical skills and his ecological concerns together. He has worked on campus at “Zero Waste by 2020,” as a project coordinator. He also created a DeCal course on the “Zero Waste Movement.”  As program director of The Green Initiative Fund, he assisted in awarding 18 new grant projects (over $215,000). The youngest speaker at the 2016 California Sustainability Conference, Brian represented Berkeley’s renewal campaign for sustainability projects as well as coordinating UC Berkeley’s team of speakers at the conference. Committed to bridging the gap between environmental scientific discourse, rhetoric, activism, and advocacy for the environment in nontraditional spaces, Brian embodies rhetoric in action, critical thinking and ethical care. 

Presented by Professor Ramona Naddaff