ANTEATER ANTICS

Photographs of the 1997 Rainbow Festival and Conference from the Afrikan Student Union November 26, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Photographs, School spirit, Student Life, University Archives.
Tags: dance, Photographs, students, UC Irvine
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Black Student Union (formerly the Afrikan Student Union) Records, University of California, Irvine. AS-098. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Students of the 1997-1998 Afrikan Student Union (currently the Black Student Union) were active participants in UC Irvine’s Rainbow Festival and Conference in November 1997. These photographs were included in scrapbooks created by the organization to document events and activities during the academic year.

The festival was founded in November 1984 as a campus wide celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity and has remained one of UC Irvine’s most festive traditions. The popular multicultural program has served as a model for numerous other colleges and universities.

Pereira’s Early Campus Plans November 13, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Early UCI Campus, University Archives.
Tags: Campus Plans, UC Irvine, William Pereira
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William L. Pereira, the UC Irvine architect went through several proposals for the UCI campus before a plan was finalized. Some of the initial proposals in 1962-1963 added a bell tower in the center of campus park. The tower, which was never built, was named “centrum.” Several lakes in campus park were also part of an early campus plan. These designs did not go through as proposed, but imagine how different the landscape would be if they had? The University Archives has numerous photographs of Pereira’s architectural models and campus plans. Pereira’s project workbooks ( Collection # AS-127), which document the various phases of campus planning can also be found in the University Archives.

: Architectural model with lakes, 1962.

: Architectural model, 1963.

: Architectural model, 1962.

: Architecutural model, 1962.

: Artist’s rendering of an early campus plan, 1962.

: Long Range Development Plan, December 1962.

: Model of the Centrum Bell Tower, 1962.

: Architect, William L. Pereira

AS-061. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Greek Songfest November 9, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Student Life, University Archives.
Tags: Greek life, philanthropy
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Greek Songfest, which began at UC Irvine in 1980, unites members of Greek system for the largest student-led philanthropic event on campus. The friendly competition features Greek fraternity and sorority members performing twelve minute renditions of Broadway musicals. The event has provided more than $230,000 for local non-profit organizations.

Over 2,300 students and 43 chapters make up the fraternity and sorority community at UC Irvine. The Greek community consists of 23 sororities and 20 fraternities that represent a wide range of ethnicities and cultures. Programs, videos, and other materials produced for Songfest can be found in AS-131, Greek Life records, University of California, Irvine.

Greek Life Records, University of California, Irvine. AS-131. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Other Mascots Considered November 3, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Anteaters, School spirit, University Archives, mascots.
Tags: UCI Mascots
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The Anteater was elected as the official UCI mascot on Monday, November 29, 1965, gaining more student votes than others on the ballot. The ballot results were: Anteater (559 votes); None of these (121 votes); Sea Hawks (113 votes); Centaurs (47 votes); Roadrunners (42 votes); Toros (37 votes); Bison (31 votes); and there were 49 Write-in votes. The options on the ballot were suggested by students through a petition process, where proposed mascots needed to have a minimum of 100 supporting signatures. Prior to this process, the UCI administration had suggested possible mascots, and even went so far as to have a local designer produce these designs for Mariners, Explorers, Toros, Clippers, and Dolphins –

: Mariners

: Explorers

: Toros

: Clippers

: Dolphins

: Mariners (alternative)

The University of California, Irvine Collection on the Anteater Mascot and Other University Symbols. AS-144. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

A conversation with Schuyler Hadley Bassett: Revisiting the history of the UCI Anteater mascot. September 28, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Anteaters, Early UCI Campus, School spirit, University Archives.
Tags: Anteater mascot, Schuyler Hadley Bassett, UC Irvine, UCI Alumni
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UCI Libraries, Special Collections and Archives recently had a chance to sit down with Schuyler Hadley Bassett and conduct an oral history interview. Bassett was part of UCI’s first freshman class when the school’s doors first opened in 1965. Although he did not come up with the initial idea of the anteater mascot, he spearheaded the successful campaign that decided on the anteater. In this interview he reminisces and retells the story forty-four years after the mascot election, which occurred in November of 1965. Here is a segment from his interview.

First Year at Camino Hall September 15, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Early UCI Campus, Photographs, Student Life, University Archives.
Tags: Photographs, Student housing, students, University of California Irvine
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Camino Hall was one of the original residence halls of Mesa Court, the first resident hall community at UC Irvine. In 1965, the first residents of Camino Hall constructed a scrapbook which documents their experiences during UC Irvine’s inaugural year. Below are just a few pages from that scrapbook:

Camino’s First Years: Camino, Mesa Court, UCI. AS-068. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

How is a housing co-op formed and governed? September 2, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Student Life, University Archives.
Tags: ISHI Co-op, Student housing
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Visit the University Archives to find out! The records of Irvine Students Housing Inc. (ISHI), a group that operated a co-op on campus between about 1975 and 2007, were recently transferred to the Archives. Included in the collection are working drafts of the ISHI Co-op’s bylaws, which document how members strove to perfect their governance. Here are the first four pages of a draft dated circa 1977:

AS-143. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

“Silent Movie” July 31, 2009

Posted by ucisca in Photographs, University Archives.
Tags: Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks, Paul Newman
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Did you know that Mel Brooks shot scenes for the 1976 feature film “Silent Movie” at UCI? The all star cast included Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Bernadette Peters, Paul Newman, and even a special guest appearance from the famous french mime, Marcel Marceau. A hilarious wheelchair race scene is filmed on UCI campus. The chairs fly through Aldrich park and speed by Gateway and Langson Library. If you are interested in seeing the UCI campus featured in this Mel Brooks classic, please check out “Silent Movie”.