An undergraduate student government office will host a viewing party for the Saturday football game between UCLA and Utah in Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
The event will feature free food and various student group performances, including one from the UCLA Spirit Squad, which will perform during the game’s quarterly breaks, said Danny Siegel, an Undergraduate Students Association Council general representative. He added the viewing party will begin at 11:30 a.m. and is open to all undergraduate students.
Siegel said he planned to host the event at Pauley Pavilion, but moved the viewing party to the lawn next to the Sunset Recreation Center Amphitheater, which has a maximum occupancy of 1500 students, because Pauley is booked for basketball practice Saturday.
Josh Rebholz, senior associate athletic director for external relations, said the recreation center is waiving the rental fee for the amphitheater, which normally costs $400 for a four-hour event.
Food and screen rental costs, among other expenses, will total to about $6,000. Siegel said UCLA Athletics and a Target sponsorship will pay for two-thirds of the cost. The Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors Fund, which Siegel applied to earlier this quarter, will pay the remaining $2,000. ASUCLA board members set aside money for the fund to help pay for student events each quarter.
Rebholz said UCLA Athletics officials wanted to help fund the viewing party to encourage students to support their school’s athletes.
Siegel planned to host a similar viewing party in Pauley Pavilion for the game between UCLA and Stanford University in October, but was unable to raise the funds in time, despite Athletics’ offer to cover one-third of the expenses, Rebholz said. He added Siegel decided to postpone the viewing party to give his office more time to fund the event.
Siegel said he thinks Athletics and USAC should continue to partner and host similar events in the future, depending how many students attend the Saturday event.
Compiled by Keshav Tadimeti, Bruin contributor.