UCLA opens centennial celebration with Alumni Day festivities

May 20, 2019

The UCLA Centennial Celebration is a year-long series of events commemorating the past 100 years of UCLA history as well as looking forward to the next 100 years and beyond. The Celebration kicked off with a Centennial Launch Day on May 18, which featured performances, lectures, and many other events on campus .

Former and present students gathered in Royce Quad on Saturday for a light show that officially kicked off UCLA's Centennial Celebration. The show was the final event of Alumni Day, which included public lectures, tours and talks. (MacKenzie Coffman/Assistant Photo editor)

"Students and alumni gathered in Royce Quad on Saturday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of UCLA’s founding.

The university held performances at Fowler Museum, a TEDxUCLA event, public lectures by faculty and alumni, and a talk between Chancellor Gene Block and former UCLA chancellors, among many other events throughout the day to celebrate UCLA Alumni Day.

At the end of the day, the lights of Royce Quad were dimmed and a video celebrating UCLA’s achievements over the past century was projected onto Royce Hall to officially launch UCLA’s Centennial Celebration. The name of the show was “Lighting the Way.”

UCLA said in a press release it was the largest Alumni Day in the history of the school.

The celebration is part of UCLA’s Centennial Campaign to raise money for the university’s endowment and scholarships, as well as for four initiatives which it intends to accomplish by the end of fall.

The initiatives involve increasing access in the UCLA library system through digitization, featuring UCLA’s historical archives, showcasing UCLA’s social justice contributions and studying inequality in Los Angeles.

Several alumni said the event helped them reconnect with the school. Many brought their families with them to engage in the festivities."— Abby Thomas and Wendy Li, May 20, 2019

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.

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