From downtown to Sacramento to Westwood, UCLA Tuesday announced a series of events planned in the coming year to mark the university’s 100th anniversary, ranging from a public party to campus tours to a community concert.
“This institution has proudly challenged, contributed and connected in ways that serve the world and particularly greater Los Angeles, the diverse and vibrant region that has helped define who we are,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. “Yet our successes have not been the product of natural inevitability. They are the result of hard work, risk and vision.
“Our centennial, therefore, is a time for us not only to look back and celebrate, but also to look around and ahead to determine what still needs to be done to improve lives across our community and around the world, and how we can best achieve that.”
The University of California Southern Branch opened in 1919 on the Vermont Avenue campus of Los Angeles State Normal School. The UC Southern Branch was renamed University of California at Los Angeles in 1927, and the first classes were held in Westwood in 1929.
The centennial festivities will begin May 18 with an Alumni Day event, featuring speakers, campus tours and other programs. A TedxUCLA speakers event will also be held the same day at the campus’ Royce Hall, followed by a “dynamic light-and-sound show” projected on the exterior of Royce Hall highlighting the school’s history.
On May 20, UCLA officials will visit Sacramento and receive a proclamation from the state Legislature.
On May 22 — the day before the official anniversary of the university’s founding — the Los Angeles City Council will proclaim it UCLA Day. A party featuring food and music, including a performance by the UCLA Marching Band, will follow in Grand Park.
The university will present a free concert by La Sonora Dinamita in MacArthur Park on Aug. 31, and it will host an “Internet50” conference on Oct. 29, commemorating “UCLA’s role as the birthplace of the internet.”
The yearlong celebration will conclude May 22, 2020, with a free community concert led by conductor Gustavo Dudamel in Royce Hall.
Full details are available online at 100.ucla.edu.