The normally bustling UCLA campus is about to fill up again after the comparatively sleepy summer, as students begin moving back to campus today, and classes begin next week on Thursday, Sept. 26.
For a 10-day stretch, campus will be headlined by the True Bruin Welcome, welcoming new and returning students to campus during UCLA’s 100th year. Among the dozens of planned activities are popular annual programs designed for the whole campus, like the Westwood Village Block Party, the Enormous Activities Fair and Volunteer Day. The schedule is also filled with targeted welcome events planned by academic departments, as well as for students who are commuters, transfers, undocumented, LGBTQ, veterans, first-generation, parents, foster youth and more.
Starting today, the first students are scheduled to begin moving back to UCLA’s residential halls, where 13,600 students will live this year. Among them will be the majority of the university’s roughly 5,900 incoming freshmen and 3,300 new transfer students as they start their UCLA journey. UCLA’s newest Bruins range in age from 15 to 67.
Move-in and the weekend will be filled with movie nights, mixers and a three-day Move-In Fair. On Sunday afternoon, students will be formally welcomed back at This is Bruin Life in Pauley Pavilion, where they will hear from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, learn about the accomplishments of Bruins like them, and enter the UCLA 100 Airstream, a mobile video studio where they can record their impressions of campus life in the university’s centennial year. Sunday evening, Bruins can explore their new neighborhood through the Westwood Village Block Party, where subtle touches by various businesses will celebrate UCLA’s centennial.
Monday, the days of open houses and niche programming start in earnest as academic programs open their doors, sorority and fraternity recruiting begins and special-interest organizations host meet-and-greets. The Wooden Center will host a five-day immunization fair allowing students to catch up on any vaccinations they’ve missed to keep the year outbreak-free. Tickets are also available to attend the afternoon’s Bruin Bash Rec Fest on the intramural field, followed by the Bruin Bash Concert at Pauley in the evening.
Tuesday’s highlights include the ASUCLA Job Fair in Bruin Plaza, and the truly gigantic Enormous Activities Fair in and around Royce Quad, featuring hundreds of UCLA’s more than 1,300 campus organizations. All students are also invited to a collection of welcome receptions and parties in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom, where they can learn more about specialized resources and centers for groups including students who are veterans, current and former foster youth, undocumented, dealing with addiction, transfers, parents, and more, including two groups for students interested in building inclusive communities.
Wednesday is filled with open houses, student welcomes, and even an ice cream social for various majors, minors and interest groups. Thursday, classes start, but the celebrations don’t stop. The Transfer Student Center will offer donuts in the morning and cookies in the evening for their Happy First Day of Class meet and greet, the LGBT Resource Center will host their annual Cookies and Queers social for students to get to know each other and the campus’ 20-plus LGBTQ organizations, and the James West Alumni Center hosts an afternoon Welcome Back Snack for all. Thursday is also the deadline to sign up for Volunteer Day, a cornerstone of the UCLA experience that has included more than 52,000 Bruins since it began.
Friday is filled with more open houses and recruitment, and Saturday, Sept. 28 kicks off the 11th UCLA Volunteer Day, with projects in more places than ever before: more than 100 locations in honor of UCLA’s 100th year. Volunteers will serve communities in nine states and six countries, but most of all in Los Angeles County, where Bruins will participate in about 90 volunteer projects.