Show the love in I Heart UCLA Week
By Yanting Li
May 9, 2010 9:06 p.m.
Bruin Bash. The Beat ‘SC Bonfire and Rally. Dinner for 12 Strangers. Now, I Heart UCLA, a new week of spirit that premieres today, is hoping to make its mark and become the university’s next great tradition.
Because of conflicts with athletic and academic schedules, the traditional “Blue and Gold” week was discontinued in fall quarter. Instead, the Student Alumni Association opted to replace it with a new spirit week near the end of the year.
“Having a spirit week at the end of spring quarter wraps up the year on a high note,” said Cassi Porter, an executive director of SAA.
“It makes people more excited to come back next year.”
Because the UCLA vs. USC football game is always right before finals, SAA has run into trouble planning Blue and Gold Week, said Rachel Borowski, marketing director of SAA.
But aside from the timing, I Heart UCLA week will not be much of a departure from Blue and Gold Week and is more of an adaptation, Porter said.
Prizes such as T-shirts, limited-edition flair and a VIP Spring Sing package will be handed out daily for attending events and showing Bruin pride by wearing blue and gold. The week will culminate with the Spring Sing concert on Friday and UCLA Alumni Day Saturday. The Bruins will also face their USC rivals in baseball in a weekend home series.
“In this way, we were able to tie in alumni, sports and the musical talent aspect of UCLA in one week,” Borowski said. “It’ll bring together all Bruins from all walks of life.”
Because this is the first year that SAA is putting on this particular spirit week, coordinators are hoping that the events turn out to be successful and set a good tone for the years to come.
“We want to spread the word and start it strong,” Borowski said.
More than 5,000 event invitations were sent out via Facebook, and there will also be Bruinvites sent out via e-mail, she added.
Calendars with the week’s events will be handed out on Bruin Walk, said Johana Fiserova, president of SAA.
Different campus groups will also help host events. Bruin Saloon Night, for example, is sponsored by the Student Giving Committee, and the first 300 Bruins in attendance will receive a drink discount and free prizes.
Coordinators especially want the events to be widespread and to encompass the entire campus, both figuratively and literally. Tuesday’s event, coined the “Bruin Spirit Project,” asks students to write down the reasons why they love UCLA on thousands of blue cards that will be posted around campus for all their peers and the alumni to see.
“We really want people to stop for a minute and think why they love this school,” Borowski said.
This sentiment is important to some students on campus, who feel that events like these are an important piece of UCLA culture.
“It builds loyalty to the school that you take with you when you graduate,” said Ben Schwartz, a second-year neuroscience student who plans on attending the week’s events.
Even though UCLA is a big school, Schwartz said it doesn’t feel like there is any dilution of spirit.
The goal of this week is to get people thinking about the little things that make this university special, and hopefully they will take that with them once they graduate, Porter said.
Coordinators are hoping that, in the future, students will become just as excited about I Heart UCLA week as any other school tradition.
“This week has a lot of potential for developing into something of Blue and Gold week standards, and hopefully it will become the next great tradition that students look forward to,” Porter said.
