Dwinelle Hall
University of California, Berkeley
January 2010
In a glamorous yet highly secretive ceremony on January 29, 2010, UCMeP honored Berkeley’s official spokesperson Dan “Big-D” Mogulof by naming him the Top Outstanding Oratorical Leader (TOOL) of the Year. Originally, the ceremony was to be a public affair held in Big-D’s office, with attendance open to the entire campus community. Yet Big-D’s surprising reticence to being named TOOL of the Year in public led us to scale down our plans for a most grandiose spectacle. Ultimately, the event was held in a highly secure, undisclosed location in front of 90 pre-invited guests with a strictly enforced media blackout (at Big-D’s behest).
The elite, invite-only audience included students, faculty, employees, alumni, administrators, and members of the UC Police Department. Most importantly, the man of the hour, Big-D himself, was on hand to receive his award. This private gala in honor of Berkeley’s director of public affairs was full of memorable moments. The sights, the sounds, the food, the moderately invasive security checks, and, of course, the fact that elite members of UC Berkeley’s administration came out to support Big-D made the heavily fortified event something none of us will soon forget.