But despite its late start, UCLA may come closest to meeting the essential California challenge: Being the best while still also being accessible. It has come to embody the American dream of what college could be—it receives more applications each year than any U. Some 35 percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants a rate twice that of the Ivies , and one-third of graduates are the first in their families to earn a four-year degree.
Yes, I can hear the howls from the Bay Area. Simmer down. And while Berkeley retains its academic prestige, UCLA has more students, better sports teams NCAA team championships and counting , and more academic options, including a world-class medical center.
My own loyalties on UCLA vs. Berkeley comparisons are conflicted. But what all Californians should appreciate, regardless of school affiliation, is this: UCLA became what it is today in the face of relentless hostility from Berkeley. Nevertheless, in the Los Angeles newspaperman Edward Dickson, a regent and Berkeley graduate, successfully fought to open a two-year campus on Vermont Avenue.
It had no degree-making power, and the snobs up North wanted to keep it that way. But Dickson and other traitorous Berkeley alums persisted, developing a four-year, degree-granting college despite the objections of UC President David Barrows.
UCLA nevertheless expanded rapidly not because of deep official support, but because of the people of California, who kept enrolling, whether there was room for them or not.
By , UCLA was already the fifth largest liberal arts college in the nation. Berkeley would remain first, but not forever. Having been embarrassed by that, UCLA officials were determined to never let those sort of things happen again. That's why it is now just as tough for a football player to get admitted into the school as it is a regular student. There have been several accomplished high school players who spent their lives dreaming about becoming Bruins, most notably quarterback Rudy Carpenter and wide receiver DeSean Jackson; Jackson spent many days watching UCLA's practices during his prep years.
However, when it came time to commit to a school, both players, stellar athletes who could have immediately contributed to and vastly improved the Bruins—and quite a few more blue-chip recruits, I may add—chose to go elsewhere because of things like a missing class that UCLA wanted to see on the transcript, or a grade or test score that was slightly below what admissions wanted.
Unlike Arizona State and California, where Carpenter and Jackson, respectively, ended up and became stars at, UCLA chose to not make any exceptions to their admission standards to admit those players and others. Bruin coaches have complained for years about not being able to get kids in due to that. Meanwhile USC, being a private school, has always had much more freedom in who they can admit and continues to.
Case in point: When Marc Tyler, the son of former Bruin standout Wendell Tyler and a five-star running back, found out that his grades were not good enough to be considered for UCLA, guess what he did? Yep, he went straight to USC and became a Trojan. This has all led to recruiting at Los Angeles' two major universities being akin to a race in which one guy has his legs tied together. It has been that way for years.
I know that some opposing fans, namely Trojan fans, will point out that UCLA's admissions standards has not hampered the basketball team's success. That is a completely different situation, however. In college basketball, teams only need one or two top recruits to make an impact. Football requires at least one whole class.
The bottom line here is, while UCLA and its admissions department has retained its integrity by keeping their standards high for football players and recruits—which I'm glad about; I definitely want our players to be real student-athletes—it has cost the Bruins in talent, talent that could have made a difference in Westwood. This is perhaps the most significant reason as to why the Bruins have been a mediocre program for years now. This is a school at the edge of downtown Los Angeles where football means absolutely everything, not only to Trojan students, alumni, and fans, but also to their administration, their board of trustees, and their well-heeled boosters.
With its classic red-brick buildings, the elegant arches of Royce Hall, the majestic architecture of Powell Library and the dramatic climb of the Janss Steps, the campus has long been a go-to location for the Hollywood ideal of what college life is all about.
The resident squirrels have been caught on camera and cellphone video doing all sorts of stunts. Another enterprising squirrel caught on video figured out how to cool off during a heat wave by sipping from a water fountain. And then there was the squirrel that nabbed a doughnut with sprinkles.
These fun, harmless creatures are sure to put smiles on your faces. The Planetarium, a foot-diameter domed structure on the eighth floor of the Mathematical Sciences Building, was built in You might take a class with former nominee for president of the United States Michael Dukakis.
You could see Bruin basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar honored at center court or catching a game at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA professors and students are a star-studded bunch. Looking for a little peace and tranquility amid the hustle and bustle of campus life? Then head to the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. Yes, UCLA has its very own 7. A new and improved picnic area is expected to open in June.
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