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Leader of the alumni band By Russell Schoch Just before the end of the Big Game in November 1982, Randy Parent stood on his seat in Memorial Stadium and yelled to his wife Carmen: “We will run this back! We will not lose this game!” He spoke just before the final seconds of the game produced the Play, Cal’s incredible four-player, five-lateral, come-from-behind victory over Stanford. Parent claims no special ability to foresee the future; instead, he calls himself a blind optimist, always hoping that the Bears will come through. It is partly Parent’s enthusiasm and love for Cal that brought the 46-year-old lawyer back to campus in July as executive director of the California Alumni Association; he succeeds James Burk ’62, who retired this summer after seven years in the post.
Randall O. Parent was born in Berkeley. His parents, both Cal alums and both teachers, moved to Concord when he was three and then, a few years later, to Clayton. It was while he was in Clayton Valley High School that Parent came up with three goals: to work at the CAA’s Lair of the Golden Bear, to be a music major and play in the Cal Band, and later to become director of a high school band. Having spent several vacations at the Lair as a youngster, Parent wanted nothing more than to spend his college summers on staff at the Lair, the Association’s family camp in the Sierra. After entering Cal in 1973, he spent five summers at the Lair, including stints as program director and assistant camp manager. At football games he attended as a child, he paid as much attention to the half-time shows as he did to the games, and soon decided he wanted to be in the Cal Band. Parent did join the Band, playing the mellophonium, the baritone, and, his final year, the sousaphone. He received the Bell Award in 1977 as the most valuable member of the Band. The highlight of Parent’s extracurricular days at Berkeley was when, as senior manager of the Cal Band, he helped lead its Bicentennial Tour in 1976. This was a six-week, 10,000-mile trip around the country, with 26 shows—some of them packed with 10,000 people—all of them ending with standing ovations. “I wouldn’t have the CAA job today if I hadn’t been senior manager of the Cal Band back then,” Parent says, referring to what he learned as a leader and organizer of a major undertaking. After graduating from Cal in 1978, Parent earned his teaching credential at Cal State Hayward. He then became band director at Logan High School in Union City, where he took a small and struggling program, designed uniforms that looked “a lot like the Cal Band’s,” and turned things around. He was named district teacher of the year for his work with the school’s choir and band, which grew from 35 to over 200 participants. Under Parent’s direction, the band was picked to perform at the Fiesta Bowl and at the San Francisco Symphony’s Black and White Ball, where it joined two other bands—one from, for some reason, Stanford, the other from Cal. Parent later became a school administrator, directing the arts, athletics, and student activities for the New Haven School District from 1985 until 1991. Having accomplished the goals he set for himself, he decided to move on. Attending USF’s law school at night, he earned his degree in 1993. After three years representing public schools for a private firm, he became deputy city attorney for the City of San Francisco. Among his projects there, he served as special counsel to the city architect and project manager for the City Hall renovation, and defended the city in construction-related litigation regarding San Francisco International Airport. Whether leading a band, supervising the arts, or representing the public in San Francisco, Parent has been in charge of wide-ranging projects affecting diverse populations—experience he believes will serve him well at the California Alumni Association. “I’ll be working with students, administrators, and of course alumni, all of us in support of the greatest university in the world,” Parent says of his new job. “I’ve been a ‘Go Bears’ kind of guy since I was four years old and sat on my dad’s lap at football games. The chance to marry that kind of passion with my professional life, to come back to Cal in this position, is a fabulous, wonderful opportunity. I’m looking forward to doing this for a long time.”  Return to Top |
 The CAA’s new executive director, Randy Parent ’77, played mellophonium in the Cal Band.
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