The Founders’ Celebration is an annual campus event that commemorates the pivotal moment in 1960 when UCSD was founded. The celebration is comprised of two portions, the Founders’ Day and Investiture and the Founders’ Symposium, followed by the Hullabaloo festival. The first portion is particularly memorable this year since the University of California President himself, Mark G. Yudof, will preside over the investiture of the school’s eighth chancellor, Pradeep K. Khosla. Most would agree that to attend such a historical moment is a rare opportunity, however, there are always those wary of a boring experience. No need to fret, though. Live entertainment, affinity booths and food trucks are all a part of the package. Groups such as the a capella troupe The Tritones, booths run by campus orgs and alumni and free food from the best local food trucks will be participating on Founders’ Day. The ceremony will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Town Square.
From 5 to 7 p.m., the Founders’ Symposium will take place at the Rady School of Management. Here, UCSD students can discover the highly regarded research happening on their own campus, presented by six speakers from the faculty. The event is already sold out, but students can still register to be on stand by.
Hullabaloo begins at 8 p.m., turning the familiar grounds of Town Square and Matthews Quad into a surreal, high-energy playground. The 2nd annual Hullabaloo festival is the wilder side of the Founders’ Celebration, where students can dance to live music at Town Square, go on amusement rides at Matthews Quad, and relax in between by grabbing grub at gourmet food trucks and checking out student-run booths.
“We really want to just take students and make their college experience that much better through this event… Because it is something that’s unique to our campus,” ASCE Festival Director Andrea Hsueh said.
This year’s day-long bash of school pride centers around the themes of “We Inspire” for Founders’ Celebration and “We Eat. We Dance. We Play.” for Hullabaloo. The festivities are open to every undergraduate, but wristbands are needed specifically to go on amusement rides. They can be picked up with a valid UCSD undergraduate student ID during the 16th from 12:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the ASCE booth in Town Square. The celebration officially ends at midnight, so students have no excuse to miss out.
“It’s a giant birthday party for the school and everyone’s invited,” Hsueh said.