[ORIENTATION]: Traditions kick-start the school year
By Easter Khaw
June 25, 2006 9:00 p.m.
UCLA starts each year off with a bash ““ Bruin Bash.
The event, which includes a concert and a dance, has been part
of the Welcome Week tradition since 2003 and is designed to usher
continuing students back into the swing of things and welcome new
students.
For some new students, traditions that occur at the beginning of
the school year can serve as their first exposure to college
life.
Campus Events Commissioner Ravi Dehar said that when he was a
freshman, the Welcome Week events helped quell his anxieties about
college. He said he hopes this year’s events will give
students, both new and returning, a feel for what to expect from
the year.
“Hopefully it has a universal appeal,” Dehar said.
“It’s been getting progressively better every
year.”
Bruin Bash is a joint effort between the Campus Events and
Cultural Affairs Commissions, two student government offices, and
includes a concert that typically features two well-known
artists.
Last year, rock band Thrice and rapper Common performed, and
artists such as Bad Religion have performed at past concerts.
Immediately following the concert, students can choose to attend
either a dance or a movie screening. In past years, the movie has
been a sneak preview or a showing of a summer hit.
Dehar said he expects this year’s Bruin Bash to be bigger
than it has been in the past. In cooperation with the UCLA Events
Office, the Cultural Affairs Commission and the Panhellenic and
Interfraternity Councils, Campus Events worked to expand the bash
from one day to two.
On the second day, students can attend the Enormous Activities
Fair, where student groups and campus organizations can set up
informational booths.
This year, the event will begin the night of Sept. 24.
But Bruin Bash is not UCLA’s only yearly kickoff
tradition.
Each year, the welcoming process starts during the Office of
Residential Life-organized move-in weekend, which begins Sept. 22
this year.
Once students settle in, each housing unit puts on events such
as dances, movie nights, games, parties and fairs, said third-year
biological chemistry student Geoff Smith, last year’s
president of Delta Terrace.
“(It’s) just something to get people out and meeting
new people,” Smith said.
Smith said the Welcome Week events are important because they
get students out of their rooms before they are overwhelmed by
schoolwork and other activities.
The resident assistants also plan events within their buildings
such as parties featuring Diddy Riese ““ a Westwood cookie and
ice cream shop popular with students ““ as well as decorating
the halls according to pre-determined themes.
For fourth-year biochemistry student Joanna Olsen, the events in
her dorm helped her to meet and bond with the other students on her
floor.
“I’d just go with the floor,” Olsen said.
“I remember we went to the fair (together).”
Though the traditions vary in nature, Dehar said they all
ultimately serve the same purpose ““ to help students find
their niches early on and meet new people with common
interests.
“Our goal is to make sure students love their university
experience,” Dehar said.
