University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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The sturdy golden bear watches over Lower Sproul from the skies thanks to the class of 1929 This lovely sunbather. nestled in the bushes by Faculty Glade is directly in the line of sight of the statue of Pappy Waldorf a linle way down the path The Campanile retains Its placid demeanor throughout protests and inclement weather Your University: Past Present A Look at University Traditions and Symbols Berzerkeley. That is how many students describe the prestigious college known as the University of California. Despite this, the university has remained among the top schools in the nation ever since its founding over 100 years ago. in the city of Oakland. Before the University of California was chartered, a smaller College of California stood in the middle of today ' s Oakland business distria. After receiving 160,000 acres of land on which to build and expand, the trustees of the College of California decided to hand the job of running the college to the state. The University of California was bom on March 23, 1868, in a new city just north of Oakland - the city of Berkeley. The first graduating class of the University, in 1873, went on to prestigious positions in the working world. The alumni graduated to such occupations as UC Regent, congressional representative, and governor of California. But as with everything else in Berkeley things got a little crazy. Students in the late 1800s were Irate and would join in pranks with their graduating class, such as knocking over trolley cars, burying and burning textbooks at the end of the year, and participating in random illegal bonfires throughout the city. The situation grew out of hand. There was no end to the mayhem until the election of Chancellor Benjamin Ida Wheeler in 1899. The university was molded after Wheeler ' s visions. Infrastructure and curriculum were priorities, and Wheeler policed his staff with strict rules and clear goals. The roots of the ASUC took hold dunng Wheeler ' s presidency. After he left in 1919, Cal was a full fledged university with extension campuses all over the state. The students, however, seemed as rowdy and energetic as ever Up until 1908, freshmen and sophomores would participate in the rush, an ongoing battle for supremacy among underclassmen. Though the actual activities of the rush were kept secret, numerous injuries to students during these events caused the classes of ' 07 and ' 08 to end the fighting. As a symbol of unity these two classes constructed a cement letter C that sits to this day above Charter Hill, in plain view from most of the campus. The Big C has of late been a target of vandalism, including an ingenious attempt by Stanford to change the letter C into a despicable letter S. Today, the University of California remains as prestigious as ever, holdint true to its traditions and maintaining its integrity A well known symbol of this great history is Founders Rock. It is said that the 12 trustees of the story by Nathm Kmav photos by Stum Ui

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; w: LEFT: Rally Commrnee celebfated ' 100 Years of Excellence ' in 2001 as the official keepers of tradition at Cal. RIGHT: Natalie Le Slanc smiles with a Cal flag in hand after stepping off the cable car is San Francisco The Cable Car Rally IS an annual part of the Big Gamp Week events California spirit and traditions, was chosen to act as Custodian of the Stanford Axe. The Women ' s Rally Committee was formed in 1939. and it eventually took over the functions of the California Rally Committee during the years af World War II. as most of the men on campus were fighting in the war Following the war, the California Rally Committee re-formed. In the fall of 1963, the senior class donated the California Victory Cannon to the University. Since then, the task of operating and maintaining the cannon has been the Rally Committee ' s. In 1969, the Women ' s Rally Committee took over the management of card stunts from the defunct Card Stunts Committee. Once the ASUC Senate refused to fund student groups I that were segregated by gender, the all male California Rally Committee and the all-female Women ' s Rally Committee merged to form the University of California Rally Committee. Despite problems that occurred during i this union, the Rally Committee succeeded under the leadership of Co-Chairmen George Hendrickson and Lynn Nakada. In 1988, The Rally Committee and other spirit groups became a part of the Department of Recreational Sports in addition to the ASUC. In 1992, the Department of Recreational Sports, Women ' s Athletics, and Men ' s Athletics were merged, making the Rally Committee and other spirit groups apart of the Athletic Department. 1997 saw Rally Committee absorb the Califomians, another campus spirit group. In addition to all other activities. Rally Committee now took charge of all Big Game Week activities. This is just the beginning for Rally Committee. The members are constantly looking for new ways to spread the Spirit of California throughout the campus by reviving and improving our current traditions and looking to build on the foundation that the Committee has laid In the last 100 years. story by Chi»SVN£ M. Lrrw Chirs Cokomn photos by Xaviek Cok na Rally Committee has significantly improved its current traditions over the last year. Activities like Card Stunts, Homecoming Rally and of course Bonfire Rally were better than ever. This drive towards constant improvement has made Rally Committee great and will continue to push us forward. New traditions and projects are developing all the time. This year, the Committee has taken on the project of renovating the Big C, as well as Founder ' s Rock. In addition. Rally Committee has made an effort to bring the Spirit of California to more members of the campus community More students, employees, and alumni have been involved in ouraaivities than in years past, and our effort to educate even more people I will never wane. Rally Committee believes that spirit represents something very important. It unites the activities of the campus into a bond of common endeavor and it is a I common denominator that can give every individual a sense of belonging and accomplishment in the University. Of course, traditions and education are abound, but the Committee itself is a unique group of people, those who truly pride themselves on working for the betterment of the University These people are willing to get up at 6:00 in the morning to do early morning fliering for events, wear sandwich boards, yell FIRE at the top of their lungs without incurring the wrath of the fire department, and arrive at football games four hours early to tape up 2500 bags of cards to each seat in the student section. Hiking up to the Big C is a regular occurrence, and It ' s not just for one ' s physical health. The university may be a place In which fouryears out of one ' s life is filled with grueling midterms, tedious labs, and endless papers, but it is also a place in which some of the best (and worst) memories are to be found. In the words of Benjamin Ide Wheeler, Cheer for her: it will do your lungs good. Love her; it will do your heart and life good. It is to this ideal that the Rally Committee works so tirelessly to uphold. -€

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-r .V. . . ■■ .. .rf 3t. . ' »..» The Pelican may seem out of place In a school that embraces the bear as a mascot. Nonetheless, the pelican has remained for years in front of the current Graduate Student Union It used to be a symbol of The Pelicon. a now extinct student run humor magazine College of California dedicated the University on the corner of what is nowGayleyand Hearst on April 16, 1860. Founders Rock sits at this corner, remindingusof the vision of those men over 120 years ago. In the early days of the University, when North Hall still existed and the campus stretched no further than Strawberry Creek, students would [Tiill around North Hall, and a concrete bench known soon after as Senior Men ' s bench. Why did they hang around this bench, you ask? Well, to watch the lovely women go by, of course! Later, when North Hall was demolished, the bench lost its value, and was moved to Moses Hall before being completely removed very recently That isn ' t to say that senior men don ' t enjoy loungmg around the Dwinelle benches for a similar reason! During the 1960s, political unrest and activism hit Berkeley hard. At the time. Sather Gate served as the main entrance to campus, located at the end of Telegraph Avenue. As protesting and demonstration became commonplace, the university had to remind its students and faculty that protests on campus had long been banned. As such, many rebellious minds needed somewhere off-campus to voice their opinions. Sproul Plaza, outside Sather Gate, was a reasonably popular area to protest, since it was technically off campus and thus under Berkeley city jurisdiction. When this area later became part of the University, the protesting did not stop; it gradually became a part of the Cal experience. One of the oldest traditions at Cal is also one of the most bizarre. The Stanford Axe was originally an ornament used by Stanford students at the 1899 Cal Stanford Baseball Game. Held in San Francisco, this annual event helped energize the students, giving them a sense of spirit for their respective schools. The Axe was a symbol of Stanford ' s pride, so a few Cal students decided to liberate it. This theft caused a long chain of encounters between Cal students. Stanford students, and police officers over the course of 30 years. It also managed to give certain pi ited students bad names in the eyes of their peers and their rivals. One such encounter involved Stanford students stealing the Axe from the hands of the Cal ii r wheeler Hall and the Campanile stand solid and peaceful no matter what is happening on the ground beneath them. faithful, using tear gas and the element of surprise to their advantage. The violent pranks and thefts went on until 1931. when both schools agreed to make the Axe a trophy for the annual football game between Cal and Stanford. Since then, the Big Game (as it is now known) has been one of the biggest and oldest rivalries in all of college football. No great school is without an original mascot, and Cal is no exception. The University ' s mascot originated in 1895. when the track team that year returned from the East Coast with many viaories. Their banner was a grizzly bear embroidered in Gold As Cal grew, the students desired a mascot that adhered to the bear theme. Students experimented unsuccessfully with live mascots at home football games. Bear cubs, although cute at first, grew too quickly to keep as mascots for Cal. Thus Oski was introduced to the waiting students. Oski was a creation of William Rockwell, class of 1948. His idea was to dress a random student in oversized padded clothes and a cartoon bear head. The mascot struts around the sidelines, inciting the Oski Yell from rowdy Cal fans. Oski ' s identity has always been kept secret. The anonymity of Oski is what makes him so appealing to Cal fans even today. He could be sitting in class next to any one of us. on any given day without anyone knowing. However, on college football Saturday he is transformed into one of the most peculiar and interesting of Cal traditions - a mascot with a big belly and a taste for alcoholic beverages. Every student at Cal can appreciate its uniqueness as much as they do its prestige. Its atmosphere and character differ from every other University of California branch, having been the first college of the UC system. Its rich history of culture and diversity outweighs that of most other universities (especially a particular one to the south). It is probably safe to say Berzerkeley fits the school and the city perfectly. Nathan Kramer is a third year student and an intended Er glish major He co-controlled ind protected lf e California Victory Cannon for one year as an executnre rT efnbef of the Uniwnity Mfy Commmee. He remains a member, both In body and spim. iy