In their quest to recruit new members this fall, the Bruin Nerds
arrived at orientation toting artist and engineer Chuck
Hoberman’s classic invention ““ the plastic geodesic
expanding sphere.
Organizers say that for a club started less than a year ago,
Bruin Nerds has grown quickly. Over 300 people have joined with an
average of six to eight signing up online each week, said Ryan
Gerard, a fifth-year computer science and engineering student and
one of the group’s founders. He came up with the idea for
Bruin Nerds while studying in Singapore last year, and told three
of his closest friends, who agreed to help him start it up.
The club has no specific focus, but the perks are many, he said.
Because organizers contact members ahead of time about events,
those who RSVP often have access to discounted rates on group
activities that range from viewing “The Little Shop of
Horrors” to gathering on Sunset Boulevard last summer to
protest a Paris Hilton book signing.
Sitting in a café in Westwood late in 2004, Gerard and
fourth-year mathematics student Marty Flores recount their qualms
with the socialite.
“Her eyes are not actually blue ““ she wears colored
contacts,” Flores says. “And I’m mad because she
never calls me,” Gerard chimes in.
Along with a third friend, fifth-year engineering student Ryan
Dean, the three banter steadily, finishing each other’s
sentences and laughing at old jokes.
They say the club is a reflection of how far they’ve come
since high school, when they felt humiliated by peers who called
them nerds.
“Some people thought that was my first name,” Gerard
says.
“Sometimes I was called a geek ““ the
analogue,” Flores added.
Now, they say they’ve gotten over the stigma and embraced
their interests, which include everything from the “Rocky
Horror Picture Show” and “Hedwig and the Angry
Inch” to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and
UCLA’s Japanese Tea Garden.
They visited Marilyn Monroe’s grave Thursday afternoon,
and are planning an “Angry Valentines” party for
February, complete with broken heart cookies and 1980s love
ballads.
Many Bruin Nerds events happen at the engineering, architecture
and sciences fraternity, Triangle, where Gerard is a live-in
member.
Flores defines a nerd as someone with a deep passion for any
subject, whether that be rocket science or the visual arts. She
proudly proclaims herself a member of this group, calling the
Center for Health Sciences where she works the “dirty
south.”
Gerard updates the group’s web site with summaries of
events he attends, writing in a sarcastic tone.
“The meeting began with Diddy Riese (sic) cookies,
provided especially for me by Mr. Riese himself,” Gerard
wrote of an October Bruin Nerds gathering dedicated to the art of
card counting. “Mr. Riese is a tall and lanky man, with
cookies just spilling out of his pockets!”
“After cookies, we began the intensive card count
training,” he continued. “The training was led by Sgt.
Jason Notario, who gained 3 purple hearts, 2 green clovers, 4
orange hearts, and 1 yellow moon while counting cards for the Navy
during the Gulf War.”
Though Dean, Flores, Gerard and a fourth Bruin Nerds founder are
devoted to the club, they say they weren’t expecting the
welcoming response they received from peers.
Members belong to a spectrum of majors that span both the north
and south ends of campus, and average event attendance is at around
15 to 25 people.
“I was more surprised by people’s enthusiasm,”
Gerard said. “People who wanted to be a part of the group
really wanted to be a part of the group.”
Melis Tusiray, a first-year undeclared student, joined the group
at orientation and says frequenting its activities has helped her
discover Los Angeles.
After one event, she and fellow members had to ask a friend to
pick them up when the bus dropped them off at its last stop, near
Fairfax Avenue, after midnight.
Despite the unexpected introduction to public transportation in
the sprawling metropolis, she says she had a good time just hanging
out with the other Bruin Nerds.
The club is set to host weekly events for the rest of winter
quarter, and the founders say they expect the group to continue its
growth.
Looking back to the beginning of the school year, Flores
believes the club has come a long way.
She remembers thinking at orientation, “Should I tell them
they should be in the group, or is that just rude?”
Dean said that though some students walked away from him when he
approached them, he knew they would later return to inquire about
Bruin Nerds, drawn in by their curiosity.
“You’ll be back,” is what he remembers
thinking.
To find out more about Bruin Nerds, visit
www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/nerds