“Beat ‘SC” will be the phrase on
students’ minds this week ““ though many would use a
word other than “beat” ““ but the events leading
up to this weekend’s football game are taking a new spin on
the historical rivalry.
In previous years, the series of events which preceded the
UCLA-USC game was called Beat ‘SC Week, and was focused on
generating support for the football team’s bout with its
traditional rival.
But this year, organizers wanted to emphasize school pride over
athletic competition.
This year’s events, titled Blue and Gold Week, are
sponsored by the UCLA Student Alumni Association and will showcase
traditional events including the Beat ‘SC Car Smash and
bonfire rally in Wilson Plaza, as well as new cultural and academic
events.
“We basically wanted to bring the focus back to
UCLA,” said Blue and Gold Week Director Jennifer
Middleton.
Middleton said many of this week’s activities will
showcase student groups and organizations on campus, rather than
specifically encouraging support for the football game.
This is a shift from previous years, when events were geared
almost exclusively toward generating enthusiasm for the football
game against USC.
Blue and Gold Week came together after the SAA saw an
opportunity to create a complete spirit week for UCLA, something
the campus did not have already, Middleton said.
Scheduling conflicts limited SAA’s ability to provide
festivities for Homecoming this year, as UCLA football did not have
a home game that provided enough time to build floats for the
Homecoming parade, Middleton said.
She said financial constraints were not an issue in the decision
to eliminate Homecoming this year.
Middleton added that there had been talk of creating a UCLA
spirit week for some time, though this is the first attempt to make
it happen.
Many of Blue and Gold Week’s events are intended to
interest a increased number of students in the days leading up to
the football game as well as reinforce school pride.
Undergraduate Students Association Council General
Representatives P.C. Zai and Marwa Kaisey and Facilities
Commissioner Joe Vardner organized student security for the Bruin
Bear during this week, in order to protect it from pranks from
outsiders, Zai said. Students will camp out on McClure Stage,
keeping watch over the “hibernating” mascot.
Zai said the security is a way to raise campus spirit as well as
provide protection for the mascot.
The Bruin Bear watch will go on all week, running from 9 p.m. to
7 a.m. every night, with different activities going on each night,
including movie showings.
This event is completely new for UCLA, and was inspired by East
Coast universities in the way they protect their mascots, Zai
said.
Also, SAA developed a new marketing scheme using trading
card-like collectables, each with one of 121 reasons to show Bruin
pride, that will be distributed to students this week, said
Ting-Ting Wei, one of the parade directors for the SAA.
They chose 121 to correlate with the date of the parade and
bonfire, which, numerically, is 12/1, Wei added.
And this year, the bonfire will follow a Beat ‘SC parade,
an event typically held during Homecoming Week. This parade
replaces the Homecoming Parade, though it will take a new parade
route that begins in Westwood Village, snakes up Gayley Avenue next
to Pauley Pavilion and into Wilson Plaza, Wei said.
The new parade route was created in order to bring the parade to
students, rather than have students go out to Le Conte Avenue,
where the parade procession used to pass, Wei added.
Also, the parade will not have as much sponsor representation in
the procession, as SAA is trying to emphasize the student aspect of
the parade, Wei said.
She said student groups were encouraged to develop ideas for
floats that present quality aspects of UCLA and UCLA students.
Southwest Airlines and Mercedez-Benz will be the only two
sponsors allowed to march in the parade, as Southwest is an
official sponsor of UCLA and Mercedez-Benz has arranged to provide
the vehicles in which the dignitaries ride, Wei said.
The dignitaries will be men’s tennis coach Billy Martin
and women’s golf coach Carrie Forsyth, and the grand marshal
will be men’s volleyball coach Al Scates, according to the
UCLA Alumni Association Web site.
Ryan McDonnell, judges and dignitaries director for the parade,
said these individuals add something fun to the parade, and act as
its leading figures.
Though many of the organizers were excited for this new breed of
beat ‘SC festivities, Wei said the UCLA Alumni Association
will decide whether to continue Blue and Gold Week in the
future.
But though the event’s emphasis has been shifted to
highlighting the university’s strengths, the organizers, like
many students, are looking forward to the week’s climax.
“I’m so excited for the game,” Middleton
said.
For more information on the week’s events, visit
www.UCLAlumni.net/BlueAndGold.