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{{Infobox_University|name = University of California, Irvine|motto =
Fiat Lux (Latin) (Let There Be Light)]|type =
Public university, Land-grant college, and Space grant colleges|calendar = Quarter|endowment =
United states dollar230
million (August 1,
2007) ]|undergrad =20,843 (2006)http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/uwnews/stat/statsum/fall2006/statsumm2006.pdf|postgrad =4,387 (2006)http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/uwnews/stat/statsum/fall2006/statsumm2006.pdf|doctoral =|city =
Irvine, California|state =California, 1,489 acres (6 km²)|colors =[Azure (heraldry) and
Or (heraldry) |nickname =UC Irvine Anteaters|mascot =Peter the Anteater|fightsong =
Anteaters Go! The Big C|athletics =
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I [American Association of Universities Big West Conference[Frank Sherwood Rowland,
Frederick Reines,Irwin Rose,
Mario J. Molina-->
The University of California, Irvine is a [public university coeducational research university situated in
Irvine, California, California. Founded in 1965, it is the second-youngest University of California campus and is widely known as
UCI or
UC Irvine.
UC Irvine's name is originated from the Irvine Company, which donated 1,000 acres (4 km²) (for a single dollar) and sold another 500 acres (2 km²) to the University of California.
Together, the University of California and the Irvine Company planned a city around the campus, which was incorporated as the city of Irvine in 1971.
UC Irvine's location is in the heart of Orange County, California, serving the fifth most-populous county in the United States of America. Additionally, UCI also maintains the
UC Irvine Health Sciences system (with its flagship UCI Medical Center in
Orange, California), the University of California, Irvine, Arboretum, and a portion of the
University of California Natural Reserve System.
In 2008, the U.S. News and World Report ranked UC Irvine as the 44th best university in the United States, 13th best public university in the United States, and 5th best (shared with
University of California, Santa Barbara) of all the UC schools - (after University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, and
University of California, Davis ). UC Irvine is also the youngest university that appears on the listing of "Top National Universities" in the United States, and is a Public Ivy institution of higher education.
The
UC Irvine Anteaters, UCI's athletic team, participate in Division I
NCAA athletic tournaments and have fielded numerous successful teams over the course of their history.
History
Early years
During the 1950s, the University of California saw the need for new campuses to handle both the large number of college-bound World War II veterans (largely due to the G. I. Bill of Rights) and the expected increase in enrollment from the
Post-World War II baby boom. One of the new campuses was to be in the Los Angeles area; the location selected was Irvine Ranch, an area of agricultural land bisecting
Orange County, California from north to south. This site was chosen to accommodate the county's growing population, complement the growth of nearby UCLA and UC Riverside, and allow for the construction of a master planned community in the surrounding area.
Irvine was one of three new campuses established in the 1960s under the
California Master Plan for Higher Education, the others being
University of California, San Diego and University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1960
The Irvine Company sold one thousand acres (4 km²) of the Irvine Ranch to the University of California for one dollar, since a company policy prohibited the donation of property to a public entity. The University purchased an additional 510 acres (2.1 km²) in 1964 for housing and commercial developments. During this time, the University also hired William Pereira and Associates as the Master Planner of the Irvine Ranch area. Pereira intended for the UC Irvine campus to complement the neighboring community, and the two grew in tandem. Soon after UC Irvine opened in 1965, the City of Irvine became incorporated and established in 1971 and 1975, respectively.
UC Irvine's first Chancellor,
Daniel G. Aldrich, developed the campus' first academic plan around a College of Arts, Letters, and Science, a Graduate School of Administration, and a School of Engineering. The College of Arts, Letters, and Science was composed of twenty majors in five "Divisions": Biological Sciences, Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences (which transformed into the present-day "Schools"). Aldrich was also responsible for implementing the wide variety of flora and fauna on the campus that fit the local Mediterranean climate zone, feeling that it served an "aesthetic, environmental, and educational ."
On
June 20, 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated UC Irvine before a crowd of 15,000 people, and on October 4, 1965 the campus began operations with 1,589 students, 241 staff members, 119 faculty, and 43 teaching assistants. However, many of UCI's buildings were still under construction and landscaping was still in progress, with the campus only at 75% completion. By June 25,
1966, UCI held its first Commencement with fourteen students, which conferred ten Bachelors of Arts, three Masters of Arts, and one Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1965 the formerly osteopathic California College of Medicine, the oldest continuously operating medical college in the southwestern US was joined to UCI. Over the protests of faculty, the University bowed to pressure from Governor Brown and bought the Orange County Medical Center from the government ending ambitions for an on campus teaching hospital. Intermittent attempts over the years to bring a full medical center to the school itself have been frustrated by many factors.
Present day
. The white tower in the foreground is part of University Center, and everything to its left and right is part of UCI.UC Irvine itself has grown with its surroundings, with the university earning national acclaim in academia that reflects its status as a nationally-ranked public research university. This fast-paced growth has made UC Irvine the educational and cultural center of Orange County, as well as making a popular translation of the abbreviation "UCI" as "Under Construction Indefinitely". The University is also a central component of Southern California's
Tech Coast and the OCTANe technology initiative, fueling corporate and technological development that reflects its history as a planned campus. As the -second-largest employer in Orange County, California (the largest employer being The Walt Disney Company), UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. Its extramural funding, which has shown exponential annual growth, was a record $263 million in 2005.
In 2006, UC Irvine operated 68 undergraduate degree programs, 53 minors, 45 master's degree programs, and 43 doctorate programs (including one M.D., two Ed. D. programs). At UC Irvine's 2005 Commencement ceremonies, the university conferred 6,759 degrees to what was at the time its largest graduating class.
Currently and in the past two decades, the ethnic breakdown at UCI was:
- Asian/Asian-American — 53.1%
- Caucasian/White — 25.9%
- Mexican-American — 8%
- No response or Unknown — 4.4%
- Spanish-American — 3.5%
- African-American — 2.3%
- Other — 2.1%
- American Indian — The first buildings were designed by a team of architects led by William Pereira and including A. Quincy Jones and William Blurock. The initial landscaping including Aldrich Park was designed by an association of three firms including that of the famous urban-landscaping innovator Robert Herrick Carter. Aldrich Park was designed under the direction of landscape architect Gene Uematsu, and was modeled after Frederick Law Olmsted's designs for New York City's Central Park. The campus opened in 1965 with the inner circle and park only half-completed. There were only nine buildings and a dirt road connecting the main campus to the housing units. Only three of the six "spokes" that radiate from the central park were built, with only two buildings each. Pereira was retained by the university to maintain a continuity of style among the buildings constructed in the inner ring around the park, the last of which was completed in 1972. These buildings were designed in a style which Pereira called "California Brutalist", combining sweeping curves that stretched the limits of how concrete could be shaped with elements of classic California architecture such as red tiled roofs and clay-tiled walkways.
Construction on the campus all but ceased after the Administration building, Aldrich Hall, was completed in 1974, and then resumed in the late 1980s, beginning a massive building boom that still continues today. This second building boom continued the futuristic trend, but emphasised a much more colorful, postmodern approach that somewhat contradicted the earthy, organic designs of the early buildings. Architects such as Frank Gehry and Arthur Erickson were brought in to bring the campus more "up to date". This in turn led to a "contextualist" approach beginning in the late 1990s, combining stylistic elements of the first two phases in an attempt to provide an architectural "middle ground" between the two vastly different styles. Gehry's building was recently removed from campus to make way for a new building, with a design that has been called a "big beige box with bands of bricks."
As of 2005, the campus has more than 200 buildings and encompasses most of the university's 1,500 acres (6 km²).
Libraries and study centers
The UC Irvine Libraries system consists of four main branches. The Jack Langson Library (formerly known as the Main Library until its benefactor donated $20 million for its expansion) houses most of the university's general media and electronic resources, particularly references involving the Arts, Humanities, Education, Social Sciences, Social Ecology, and Business. The Science Library, the largest consolidated science and medical library in California, is recognized for its excellent collections and unique postmodern architecture (which resembles a large U shape). The School of Medicine is supported by two libraries: the Grunigen Medical Library at the UCI Medical Center, and the Biomedical Library at Gottschalk Medical Plaza on the main campus. The Grunigen Library has 43,000 volumes of material, while the Biomedical Library has more than 156,000 volumes, 2,500 periodical subscriptions, and serves as a resource library in the National Network of Medical Libraries.
UCI is noted for having many excellent special collections and archives. In addition to holding a noted Critical Theory archive and Southeast Asian archive, the Libraries also contain extensive collections in Dance and Performing Arts, Regional History, and more. Additionally, Langson Library hosts an extensive East Asian collection with materials in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Nearly all departments and schools on campus complement the resources of the UC Irvine Libraries by maintaining their own reading rooms and scholarly meeting rooms. They contain small reference collections and are the choice for more imtimate lectures, graduate seminars, and study sessions. There is also the large Gateway Study Center (across from Langson Library), one of the university's original buildings and under the custody of UC Irvine Libraries. Having served formerly as a cafeteria and student center, it is now a dual-use computer lab and study area which is open nearly 24 hours.
The UCI Student Center, currently under renovation, offers a large number of study areas and is one of the most popular places to study on campus. UC Irvine also has a number of computer labs that serve as study centers. The School of Humanities maintains its Humanities Instructional Resource Center, a drop-in computer lab specializing in language and digital media. Additionally, UCI maintains five other drop-in labs, four instructional computer labs, and a number of reservation-only SmartClassrooms, some of which are open 24 hours. Other popular study areas include Aldrich Park, the Cross-Cultural Center, the Locus (a study room and computer lab used by the Campuswide Honors Program), and plazas located in every School.
Residential accommodations
UC Irvine has a number of residential options for students interested in living on campus. Approximately 36% of UCI students are housed in university accommodations; 3,300 live in freshmen residential dormitories, approximately 4,000 other undergraduates live in apartment/theme community housing, and 1,542 living units are available for graduate students and their families. Part of UCI's long-range development plan involves expanding on-campus housing to accommodate 50% of all UCI students.
Off-campus housing options vary widely, given a student's preferred living arranagements and budget. However, a common denominator for off-campus apartment housing in Irvine, California and nearby Newport Beach, Tustin, and Costa Mesa is the fact that most accommodations are maintained by The Irvine Company. UCI offers off-campus housing search assistance and roommate listings through its student housing office.
Notable facilities
UC Irvine has a number of specialized on-campus facilities that support its educational and cultural mission. For instance, UCI hosts the modern Arnold and Mabel Beckman Conference Center, which is made available for events and lectures and is maintained by the United States National Academy of Sciences. The Beckman Center also has a garden and museum exhibit featuring the inventions, quotes, and historical records of its benefactor, Arnold O. Beckman.
UCI also has its own performing arts center, the Irvine Barclay Theater, which hosts a variety of musical and performance events in a hall noted for its acoustic design. It is also home to the UCI Symphony Orchestra and plays host to prestigious guest speakers as well. For instance, two recent guests hosted by the Irvine Barclay Theater were His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Claire Trevor School of the Arts hosts a number of theaters and galleries, such as the Beall Center for Art and Technology. The school is also known for its redesigned Arts Plaza, which was conceived by Maya Lin and completed in 2006. It serves as a meeting place, study area, outdoor performing arts center, exhibition hall, and lecture area.
For intimate gatherings and conferences, the Dorothy G. Sullivan University Club available due to its full-service banquet and dining amenities. It is also a popular place for students and faculty to have lunch, and its facilities may be rented out for formal events such as weddings or parties.
UC Irvine also hosts a Cross-Cultural Center (the Cross), the first of its kind in the University of California. This facility serves as a multicultural gathering area and venue for events that foster understanding between the various cultures represented on campus. Currently, the Cross-Cultural Center is undergoing a renovation and expansion effort that will double its size and offer more venues for the seven ethnic umbrella organizations and the numerous cultural clubs that operate under them.
Large scale events make use of the Bren Events Center (the Bren), UCI's largest venue and home to many of its sporting events. It offers of space and has seating for 5,500. The Bren Events Center is adjacent to the large Crawford Athletics Complex, where UCI's athletes train and compete in state-of-the-art facilities, which include a recently-renovated baseball park, track and field, and swimming complex.
Much of the southern part of UCI is occupied by the UCI University Research Park, a 158 acre (0.6 km²) office and research property operated by The Irvine Company. The University Research Park attempts to form a synergy between UCI, 44 local technology and business interests, faculty start-up companies, and other campus offices. A partial listing of tenants includes Blizzard Entertainment, Skyworks Solutions, Cisco, Center for Educational Partnerships, and more. The property also includes a Starbucks and is currently under expansion (to 2.4 million square ft).
UCI also has its own observatory, which is hidden in the empty fields behind University Hills. The observatory, which is operated by the Physics Department, is open to the public during Visitor Nights that are held six times a year.
Two notable public health organizations also maintain independent research facilities at UCI. The American Cancer Society has a research complex on the corner of Campus and California Drive. And recently, the Food and Drug Administration constructed a modern complex on the edge of UC Irvine's San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve. It houses the FDA Southwest Pacific Regional Laboratory and its Los Angeles District office.
Parking and transportation
The city of Irvine is predominantly suburban and on-campus housing is limited for non-freshmen, thus making most UCI students avid commuters. Additionally, undergraduates living on campus can purchase residential parking permits. These factors, plus a location in one of Orange County's most concentrated urban areas and transportation hubs (near the El Toro Y and Orange Crush interchange), have created a huge daily volume of cars within the vicinity and a severe parking shortage during peak hours.
Traffic is notoriously endemic in the region, with peak hours consuming most of the late afternoon and early night. Conversely, the large scale of the campus, its vehicle-friendly layout, and numerous high-volume parking options makes it possible for students who live off campus to drive to class (or anywhere else) and back during non-peak hours without major concerns for parking availability. Alternative methods such as OCTA subsidies, stack parking, and a carpool pairing program have had limited success, while many parking-related construction projects (such as the recently-completed Engineering Parking Structure) offer long-term solutions.
Student activities and traditions
UCI's history as part of a preplanned suburban community, combined with the tendency for some students to go home on the weekends, gives Irvine a reputation as a quieter college town. However, there are a number of opportunities for vibrant and exciting social outings, so long as students take the initiative and have access to an automobile. There are also many storied traditions at UCI, which have helped the young university develop a strong sense of campus spirit and personality.
Greek life
UCI's Greek Life began in 1975 and continues today as a very active and growing community.
North-American Interfraternity Conference Fraternities
National Panhellenic Conference Sororities
Multicultural Fraternities / Sororities
Athletics
UCI's sports teams are known as the Anteaters. They participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Their traditional rivals are California State University, Fullerton, California State University, Long Beach, and UC Santa Barbara.
UCI fields nationally competitive teams in cross country, track and field, basketball, baseball, volleyball, water polo, soccer, swimming, rowing, and sailing. UCI's renowned Baseball program recently returned to UCI, after a period of state funding crises led to its temporary retirement.
UCI athletics has won 25 national titles. The most recent title came from the men's volleyball team, who won the NCAA Division I national title on May 5, 2007 against IPFW (3-1) at Ohio State. Other titles include 2 baseball Division II titles, 3 men's swimming titles (Div. II), 6 men's tennis titles (Div. II), and 3 men's waterpolo titles (Div. I). Most recently, the men's baseball team impressed the nation, the Anteaters being one of the Final Four teams left in the College World Series, just six years after the baseball program had been formally re-instated after a ten-year absence.
Unlike many traditional universities, UCI does not have a football team, and a football program seems unlikely in the future. A pragmatic explanation is that UCI administrators tend to see a football program as not cost-effective, given the fact that a more diverse number of athletic programs may benefit from the funds required to support a football team. Additionally, UCI wishes to avoid the controversies associated with college football (such as negative academic and social concerns).
However, students have expressed their displeasure with the administration's stance on a school football team. Some students believe that this is the reason that there is a noticeable lack of unity and lack of school spirit among the students. Without football, they also believe that they are not getting the full college experience. Students also believe that a football team will improve, and not hurt, academics on the campus.
Controversy
Aramark
Aramark, a food services corporation, manages nearly all residential dining facilities and restaurants on university property. This includes UCI's three dining halls (Brandywine, Pippin Commons, and Mesa Commons) and three on-campus restaurants (Phoenix Grille, B.C.'s Cavern on the Green, and Bistro by the Bridge). ASUCI, which is partially responsible for negotiating UCI's food services contract, has justified the decision to offer Aramark its business with the argument that Aramark has pledged to invest millions of dollars into the university
{{Infobox_University|name = University of California, Irvine|motto = Fiat Lux (Latin) (Let There Be Light)]|type =Public university, Land-grant college, and Space grant colleges|calendar = Quarter|endowment =United states dollar230 million (August 1, 2007) ]|undergrad =20,843 (2006)http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/uwnews/stat/statsum/fall2006/statsumm2006.pdf|postgrad =4,387 (2006)http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/uwnews/stat/statsum/fall2006/statsumm2006.pdf|doctoral =|city =Irvine, California|state =California, 1,489 acres (6 km²)|colors =[Azure (heraldry) and Or (heraldry) |nickname =UC Irvine Anteaters|mascot =Peter the Anteater|fightsong = Anteaters Go! The Big C|athletics =National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I [American Association of Universities Big West Conference[Frank Sherwood Rowland,Frederick Reines,Irwin Rose,Mario J. Molina-->
The University of California, Irvine is a [public university coeducational research university situated in Irvine, California, California. Founded in 1965, it is the second-youngest University of California campus and is widely known as UCI or UC Irvine.
UC Irvine's name is originated from the Irvine Company, which donated 1,000 acres (4 km²) (for a single dollar) and sold another 500 acres (2 km²) to the University of California.
Together, the University of California and the Irvine Company planned a city around the campus, which was incorporated as the city of Irvine in 1971.
UC Irvine's location is in the heart of Orange County, California, serving the fifth most-populous county in the United States of America. Additionally, UCI also maintains the UC Irvine Health Sciences system (with its flagship UCI Medical Center in Orange, California), the University of California, Irvine, Arboretum, and a portion of the University of California Natural Reserve System.
In 2008, the U.S. News and World Report ranked UC Irvine as the 44th best university in the United States, 13th best public university in the United States, and 5th best (shared with University of California, Santa Barbara) of all the UC schools - (after University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, and University of California, Davis ). UC Irvine is also the youngest university that appears on the listing of "Top National Universities" in the United States, and is a Public Ivy institution of higher education.
The UC Irvine Anteaters, UCI's athletic team, participate in Division I NCAA athletic tournaments and have fielded numerous successful teams over the course of their history.
History
Early years
During the 1950s, the University of California saw the need for new campuses to handle both the large number of college-bound World War II veterans (largely due to the G. I. Bill of Rights) and the expected increase in enrollment from the Post-World War II baby boom. One of the new campuses was to be in the Los Angeles area; the location selected was Irvine Ranch, an area of agricultural land bisecting Orange County, California from north to south. This site was chosen to accommodate the county's growing population, complement the growth of nearby UCLA and UC Riverside, and allow for the construction of a master planned community in the surrounding area.
Irvine was one of three new campuses established in the 1960s under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the others being University of California, San Diego and University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1960 The Irvine Company sold one thousand acres (4 km²) of the Irvine Ranch to the University of California for one dollar, since a company policy prohibited the donation of property to a public entity. The University purchased an additional 510 acres (2.1 km²) in 1964 for housing and commercial developments. During this time, the University also hired William Pereira and Associates as the Master Planner of the Irvine Ranch area. Pereira intended for the UC Irvine campus to complement the neighboring community, and the two grew in tandem. Soon after UC Irvine opened in 1965, the City of Irvine became incorporated and established in 1971 and 1975, respectively.
UC Irvine's first Chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich, developed the campus' first academic plan around a College of Arts, Letters, and Science, a Graduate School of Administration, and a School of Engineering. The College of Arts, Letters, and Science was composed of twenty majors in five "Divisions": Biological Sciences, Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences (which transformed into the present-day "Schools"). Aldrich was also responsible for implementing the wide variety of flora and fauna on the campus that fit the local Mediterranean climate zone, feeling that it served an "aesthetic, environmental, and educational ."
On June 20, 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated UC Irvine before a crowd of 15,000 people, and on October 4, 1965 the campus began operations with 1,589 students, 241 staff members, 119 faculty, and 43 teaching assistants. However, many of UCI's buildings were still under construction and landscaping was still in progress, with the campus only at 75% completion. By June 25, 1966, UCI held its first Commencement with fourteen students, which conferred ten Bachelors of Arts, three Masters of Arts, and one Doctor of Philosophy degree. In 1965 the formerly osteopathic California College of Medicine, the oldest continuously operating medical college in the southwestern US was joined to UCI. Over the protests of faculty, the University bowed to pressure from Governor Brown and bought the Orange County Medical Center from the government ending ambitions for an on campus teaching hospital. Intermittent attempts over the years to bring a full medical center to the school itself have been frustrated by many factors.
Present day
. The white tower in the foreground is part of University Center, and everything to its left and right is part of UCI.UC Irvine itself has grown with its surroundings, with the university earning national acclaim in academia that reflects its status as a nationally-ranked public research university. This fast-paced growth has made UC Irvine the educational and cultural center of Orange County, as well as making a popular translation of the abbreviation "UCI" as "Under Construction Indefinitely". The University is also a central component of Southern California's Tech Coast and the OCTANe technology initiative, fueling corporate and technological development that reflects its history as a planned campus. As the -second-largest employer in Orange County, California (the largest employer being The Walt Disney Company), UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. Its extramural funding, which has shown exponential annual growth, was a record $263 million in 2005.
In 2006, UC Irvine operated 68 undergraduate degree programs, 53 minors, 45 master's degree programs, and 43 doctorate programs (including one M.D., two Ed. D. programs). At UC Irvine's 2005 Commencement ceremonies, the university conferred 6,759 degrees to what was at the time its largest graduating class.
Currently and in the past two decades, the ethnic breakdown at UCI was:
- Asian/Asian-American — 53.1%
- Caucasian/White — 25.9%
- Mexican-American — 8%
- No response or Unknown — 4.4%
- Spanish-American — 3.5%
- African-American — 2.3%
- Other — 2.1%
- American Indian — The first buildings were designed by a team of architects led by William Pereira and including A. Quincy Jones and William Blurock. The initial landscaping including Aldrich Park was designed by an association of three firms including that of the famous urban-landscaping innovator Robert Herrick Carter. Aldrich Park was designed under the direction of landscape architect Gene Uematsu, and was modeled after Frederick Law Olmsted's designs for New York City's Central Park. The campus opened in 1965 with the inner circle and park only half-completed. There were only nine buildings and a dirt road connecting the main campus to the housing units. Only three of the six "spokes" that radiate from the central park were built, with only two buildings each. Pereira was retained by the university to maintain a continuity of style among the buildings constructed in the inner ring around the park, the last of which was completed in 1972. These buildings were designed in a style which Pereira called "California Brutalist", combining sweeping curves that stretched the limits of how concrete could be shaped with elements of classic California architecture such as red tiled roofs and clay-tiled walkways.
Construction on the campus all but ceased after the Administration building, Aldrich Hall, was completed in 1974, and then resumed in the late 1980s, beginning a massive building boom that still continues today. This second building boom continued the futuristic trend, but emphasised a much more colorful, postmodern approach that somewhat contradicted the earthy, organic designs of the early buildings. Architects such as Frank Gehry and Arthur Erickson were brought in to bring the campus more "up to date". This in turn led to a "contextualist" approach beginning in the late 1990s, combining stylistic elements of the first two phases in an attempt to provide an architectural "middle ground" between the two vastly different styles. Gehry's building was recently removed from campus to make way for a new building, with a design that has been called a "big beige box with bands of bricks."
As of 2005, the campus has more than 200 buildings and encompasses most of the university's 1,500 acres (6 km²).
Libraries and study centers
The UC Irvine Libraries system consists of four main branches. The Jack Langson Library (formerly known as the Main Library until its benefactor donated $20 million for its expansion) houses most of the university's general media and electronic resources, particularly references involving the Arts, Humanities, Education, Social Sciences, Social Ecology, and Business. The Science Library, the largest consolidated science and medical library in California, is recognized for its excellent collections and unique postmodern architecture (which resembles a large U shape). The School of Medicine is supported by two libraries: the Grunigen Medical Library at the UCI Medical Center, and the Biomedical Library at Gottschalk Medical Plaza on the main campus. The Grunigen Library has 43,000 volumes of material, while the Biomedical Library has more than 156,000 volumes, 2,500 periodical subscriptions, and serves as a resource library in the National Network of Medical Libraries.
UCI is noted for having many excellent special collections and archives. In addition to holding a noted Critical Theory archive and Southeast Asian archive, the Libraries also contain extensive collections in Dance and Performing Arts, Regional History, and more. Additionally, Langson Library hosts an extensive East Asian collection with materials in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Nearly all departments and schools on campus complement the resources of the UC Irvine Libraries by maintaining their own reading rooms and scholarly meeting rooms. They contain small reference collections and are the choice for more imtimate lectures, graduate seminars, and study sessions. There is also the large Gateway Study Center (across from Langson Library), one of the university's original buildings and under the custody of UC Irvine Libraries. Having served formerly as a cafeteria and student center, it is now a dual-use computer lab and study area which is open nearly 24 hours.
The UCI Student Center, currently under renovation, offers a large number of study areas and is one of the most popular places to study on campus. UC Irvine also has a number of computer labs that serve as study centers. The School of Humanities maintains its Humanities Instructional Resource Center, a drop-in computer lab specializing in language and digital media. Additionally, UCI maintains five other drop-in labs, four instructional computer labs, and a number of reservation-only SmartClassrooms, some of which are open 24 hours. Other popular study areas include Aldrich Park, the Cross-Cultural Center, the Locus (a study room and computer lab used by the Campuswide Honors Program), and plazas located in every School.
Residential accommodations
UC Irvine has a number of residential options for students interested in living on campus. Approximately 36% of UCI students are housed in university accommodations; 3,300 live in freshmen residential dormitories, approximately 4,000 other undergraduates live in apartment/theme community housing, and 1,542 living units are available for graduate students and their families. Part of UCI's long-range development plan involves expanding on-campus housing to accommodate 50% of all UCI students.
Off-campus housing options vary widely, given a student's preferred living arranagements and budget. However, a common denominator for off-campus apartment housing in Irvine, California and nearby Newport Beach, Tustin, and Costa Mesa is the fact that most accommodations are maintained by The Irvine Company. UCI offers off-campus housing search assistance and roommate listings through its student housing office.
Notable facilities
UC Irvine has a number of specialized on-campus facilities that support its educational and cultural mission. For instance, UCI hosts the modern Arnold and Mabel Beckman Conference Center, which is made available for events and lectures and is maintained by the United States National Academy of Sciences. The Beckman Center also has a garden and museum exhibit featuring the inventions, quotes, and historical records of its benefactor, Arnold O. Beckman.
UCI also has its own performing arts center, the Irvine Barclay Theater, which hosts a variety of musical and performance events in a hall noted for its acoustic design. It is also home to the UCI Symphony Orchestra and plays host to prestigious guest speakers as well. For instance, two recent guests hosted by the Irvine Barclay Theater were His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Claire Trevor School of the Arts hosts a number of theaters and galleries, such as the Beall Center for Art and Technology. The school is also known for its redesigned Arts Plaza, which was conceived by Maya Lin and completed in 2006. It serves as a meeting place, study area, outdoor performing arts center, exhibition hall, and lecture area.
For intimate gatherings and conferences, the Dorothy G. Sullivan University Club available due to its full-service banquet and dining amenities. It is also a popular place for students and faculty to have lunch, and its facilities may be rented out for formal events such as weddings or parties.
UC Irvine also hosts a Cross-Cultural Center (the Cross), the first of its kind in the University of California. This facility serves as a multicultural gathering area and venue for events that foster understanding between the various cultures represented on campus. Currently, the Cross-Cultural Center is undergoing a renovation and expansion effort that will double its size and offer more venues for the seven ethnic umbrella organizations and the numerous cultural clubs that operate under them.
Large scale events make use of the Bren Events Center (the Bren), UCI's largest venue and home to many of its sporting events. It offers of space and has seating for 5,500. The Bren Events Center is adjacent to the large Crawford Athletics Complex, where UCI's athletes train and compete in state-of-the-art facilities, which include a recently-renovated baseball park, track and field, and swimming complex.
Much of the southern part of UCI is occupied by the UCI University Research Park, a 158 acre (0.6 km²) office and research property operated by The Irvine Company. The University Research Park attempts to form a synergy between UCI, 44 local technology and business interests, faculty start-up companies, and other campus offices. A partial listing of tenants includes Blizzard Entertainment, Skyworks Solutions, Cisco, Center for Educational Partnerships, and more. The property also includes a Starbucks and is currently under expansion (to 2.4 million square ft).
UCI also has its own observatory, which is hidden in the empty fields behind University Hills. The observatory, which is operated by the Physics Department, is open to the public during Visitor Nights that are held six times a year.
Two notable public health organizations also maintain independent research facilities at UCI. The American Cancer Society has a research complex on the corner of Campus and California Drive. And recently, the Food and Drug Administration constructed a modern complex on the edge of UC Irvine's San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve. It houses the FDA Southwest Pacific Regional Laboratory and its Los Angeles District office.
Parking and transportation
The city of Irvine is predominantly suburban and on-campus housing is limited for non-freshmen, thus making most UCI students avid commuters. Additionally, undergraduates living on campus can purchase residential parking permits. These factors, plus a location in one of Orange County's most concentrated urban areas and transportation hubs (near the El Toro Y and Orange Crush interchange), have created a huge daily volume of cars within the vicinity and a severe parking shortage during peak hours.
Traffic is notoriously endemic in the region, with peak hours consuming most of the late afternoon and early night. Conversely, the large scale of the campus, its vehicle-friendly layout, and numerous high-volume parking options makes it possible for students who live off campus to drive to class (or anywhere else) and back during non-peak hours without major concerns for parking availability. Alternative methods such as OCTA subsidies, stack parking, and a carpool pairing program have had limited success, while many parking-related construction projects (such as the recently-completed Engineering Parking Structure) offer long-term solutions.
Student activities and traditions
UCI's history as part of a preplanned suburban community, combined with the tendency for some students to go home on the weekends, gives Irvine a reputation as a quieter college town. However, there are a number of opportunities for vibrant and exciting social outings, so long as students take the initiative and have access to an automobile. There are also many storied traditions at UCI, which have helped the young university develop a strong sense of campus spirit and personality.
Greek life
UCI's Greek Life began in 1975 and continues today as a very active and growing community.
North-American Interfraternity Conference Fraternities
- Alpha Epsilon Pi
- Beta Theta Pi
- Kappa Sigma
- Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI)
- Phi Kappa Psi
- Pi Kappa Alpha
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon
- Sigma Chi
- Sigma Lambda Beta
- Sigma Nu
- Sigma Phi Epsilon
- Sigma Pi
National Panhellenic Conference Sororities
Multicultural Fraternities / Sororities
Athletics
UCI's sports teams are known as the Anteaters. They participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Their traditional rivals are California State University, Fullerton, California State University, Long Beach, and UC Santa Barbara.
UCI fields nationally competitive teams in cross country, track and field, basketball, baseball, volleyball, water polo, soccer, swimming, rowing, and sailing. UCI's renowned Baseball program recently returned to UCI, after a period of state funding crises led to its temporary retirement.
UCI athletics has won 25 national titles. The most recent title came from the men's volleyball team, who won the NCAA Division I national title on May 5, 2007 against IPFW (3-1) at Ohio State. Other titles include 2 baseball Division II titles, 3 men's swimming titles (Div. II), 6 men's tennis titles (Div. II), and 3 men's waterpolo titles (Div. I). Most recently, the men's baseball team impressed the nation, the Anteaters being one of the Final Four teams left in the College World Series, just six years after the baseball program had been formally re-instated after a ten-year absence.
Unlike many traditional universities, UCI does not have a football team, and a football program seems unlikely in the future. A pragmatic explanation is that UCI administrators tend to see a football program as not cost-effective, given the fact that a more diverse number of athletic programs may benefit from the funds required to support a football team. Additionally, UCI wishes to avoid the controversies associated with college football (such as negative academic and social concerns).
However, students have expressed their displeasure with the administration's stance on a school football team. Some students believe that this is the reason that there is a noticeable lack of unity and lack of school spirit among the students. Without football, they also believe that they are not getting the full college experience. Students also believe that a football team will improve, and not hurt, academics on the campus.
Controversy
Aramark
Aramark, a food services corporation, manages nearly all residential dining facilities and restaurants on university property. This includes UCI's three dining halls (Brandywine, Pippin Commons, and Mesa Commons) and three on-campus restaurants (Phoenix Grille, B.C.'s Cavern on the Green, and Bistro by the Bridge). ASUCI, which is partially responsible for negotiating UCI's food services contract, has justified the decision to offer Aramark its business with the argument that Aramark has pledged to invest millions of dollars into the university
