From the past and present success of Bruin athletics to the
Undie Run, UCLA students are drawn to the traditions that define
university and student life.
But even as traditions abound, students seem eager to add their
own flair to the collection of rich and lively rituals that already
exists.
Take Branden Brough, a graduate student in mechanical
engineering who has been camping out before UCLA basketball games
for at least the past six years.
Along with other students, Brough is planning to produce a
newsletter for Bruin basketball home games, designed to keep
students and fans informed of traditions, chants and player
information.
Brough said he hopes it would “stick.”
“All of us (at UCLA) are small fish in a big pond ““
and it would be nice to leave some impact,” he said.
Family ties to the university have also helped create UCLA sport
traditions within families.
Dario Soto, a fourth-year history student, said he remembers
when his older sister took him to a UCLA-USC game over 12 years
ago.
Soto said the aura surrounding the winning tradition of UCLA
athletics drew him to the university.
“The great athletic tradition of excellence really
inspired me to come to UCLA,” he said, adding that he plans
to attend UCLA games after he graduates for years to come.
Besides sports, some students said they felt the UCLA tradition
of diversity and intellectualism was another aspect which made the
school unique.
Kiran Baig, a fourth-year psycho-biology student and a member of
the Muslim Student Association, said UCLA’s ethnic, religious
and academic diversity appealed to her.
“The diversity and academics ““ it really helped me
in my decision to come here,” she said.
Ernesto Esqueda, a fourth-year history and Chicano/a studies
student, said he felt that a strong activist tradition has helped
make UCLA a distinct and thought-provoking campus.
“I find that at UCLA there are resources that facilitate
and encourage you ability to critically analyze the world,”
he said.
Ednna Acevedo, a fourth-year sociology student, said the 13-day
hunger strike by students and university administrators in 1993,
which resulted in the establishment of the Chicano/a Studies
department, is part of a lesser-known tradition of struggle.
“I think there is a tradition of struggle for equality and
access,” she said
She pointed to the deaths of activists on campus as proof,
referring specifically to Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, two Black
Panthers who were were slain at Campbell Hall 35 years ago.
Even in the face of administrative repression, there seems to be
no end to UCLA students’ ability to invent traditions, even
wacky ones.
Take the Undie Run.
Midnight Yell, a student-initiated ritual of yelling every
midnight during finals week, began steadily fading last year when
authorities at the university apartments and dorms began
discouraging the practice.
Partially in response, 150 students jogged down Gayley Avenue
last June and fall quarter of this year for a stress-reducing study
break.
Put together, these traditions provide every UCLA student with a
lifetime of memorable experiences.