nts and staff jazz musicians have had an opportunity to perform and study with the University of California Jazz Ensembles. Under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker, who was hired by the Cal Band as a composer, arranger, and associate director, but was later asked to direct the jazz ensembles as it grew in popularity and membership, the group grew rapidly from one big band to multiple big bands, numerous combos, and numerous instrumental classes with multiple instructors. For several decades it hosted the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, part of the American Collegiate Jazz Festival, a competitive forum for student musicians. PCCJF brought jazz luminaries such as Hubert Laws, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, and Ed Shaughnessy to the Berkeley campus as performers, clinicians, and adjudicators. The festival later included high school musicians. The jazz ensembles bec

 on campus; three groups include the UC Men's Octet,the California Golden Overtones,and Noteworthy, all members of the UC Choral Ensembles. The UC Men's Octet is an eight-member a cappella group founded in 1948 featuring a repertoire of barbershop, doo-wop, contemporary pop, modern alternative, and fight songs. They are one of only two multiple time champions of the ICCA, having won the championship in both 1998 and 2000. The California Golden Overtones, founded in 1984, have a very similar repertoire to the Octet. Noteworthy competed in Season 5 of America's Got Talent. It is a tradition for every Berkeley a cappella group to perform under the campus' iconic Sather Gate each week at different times during the week. In addition to a Capella, Berkeley is host to a myriad of other performing arts groups in comedy, dance, acting and instrumental music. A few examples include Jericho! Improv & Sketch Comedy, The Movement, Taiko drumming, BareStage student musical theater, the Remedy Music Project, and Main Stacks Competitive Hip Hop Dance Team.
Since 1967, students and staff jazz musicians have had an opportunity to perform and study with the University of California Jazz Ensembles. Under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker, who was hired by the Cal Band as a composer, arranger, and associate director, but was later asked to direct the jazz ensembles as it grew in popularity and membership, the group grew rapidly from one big band to multiple big bands, numerous combos, and numerous instrumental classes with multiple instructors. For several decades it hosted the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, part of the American Collegiate Jazz Festival, a competitive forum for student musicians. PCCJF brought jazz luminaries such as Hubert Laws, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, and Ed Shaughnessy to the Berkeley campus as performers, clinicians, and adjudicators. The festival later included high school musicians. The jazz ensembles became an effective recruitment tool. Many high school musicians interested in strong academics as well as jazz found that the campus met both interests. Numerous alumni have had successful careers in jazz performance and education including Michael Wolff and Andy Narell.
UC Berkeley also hosts a large number of conferences, talks, and musical and theatrical performances. Many of these events, including the Annual UC Berkeley Sociological Research Symposium, are completely planned and organized by undergraduate students. The Berkeley Forum is one such student group that organizes panels, debates, and talks by leading experts from a wide variety of fields.[120]
Athletics[edit]
Main article: California Golden Bears
UC Berkeley's sports teams compete in intercollegiate athletics as the California Golden Bears. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The official school colors, established in 1873 by a committee of students, are Yale Blue and California Gold.[121] Yale Blue was chosen because many of the university's founders were Yale University graduates (for example Henry Durant, the first university president), while California Gold was selected to represent the Golden State of California. The California Golden Bears have a long history of excellence in athletics, having won national titles in football, men's basketball, baseball, softball,

hlorien. In 1997, the USCA opened its African-American theme house, Afro House, and in 1999 its LGBT-themed house, named after queer Irish author and poet Oscar Wilde.[114] Notable alumni of the BSC include Marion Nestle, professor at New York University and author of Food Politics, and Beverly Cleary. Fraternities and sororities[edit]

Students in Berkeley have a number of cooperative housing options. The largest network of student housing cooperatives in the area is the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC).
Main article: Berkeley Student Cooperative
Students of UC Berkeley, as well as students of other universities and colleges in the area, have the option of living in one of the twenty cooperative houses of the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), formerly the University Students' Cooperative Association (USCA), and member of the national cooperative federation, NASCO. The BSC is a nonprofit housing cooperative network consisting of 20 cooperative homes and 1250 member-owners.[113] The USCA (as the BSC was known by at that time) was founded in 1933 by then-director of the YWCA, Harry Kingman. The birth of the USCA, as well as many other cooperative organizations around the country, coincided with the Great Depression precisely as a response to scant resources. By living together in large houses and pooling together resources, members found that their monetary resources could go further to pay for their cost of living than living separately. In the 1960s, the USCA pioneered the first co-ed university housing in Berkeley, called the Ridge Project (later renamed Casa Zimbabwe). In 1975, the USCA founded its first and only vegetarian-themed house, Lothlorien. In 1997, the USCA opened its African-American theme house, Afro House, and in 1999 its LGBT-themed house, named after queer Irish author and poet Oscar Wilde.[114]
Notable alumni of the BSC include Marion Nestle, professor at New York University and author of Food Politics, and Beverly Cleary.
Fraternities and sororities[edit]
Main article: List of fraternities and sororities at University of California, Berkeley
Student-run organizations[edit]
Student government[edit]
The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) is the student government organization that controls funding for student groups and organizes on-campus student events. It is considered one of the most autonomous student governments at any public university in the U.S. The two main political parties are "Student Action"[115] and "CalSERVE."[116] The organization was founded in 1887 and has a budget of $1.6 million.
The ASUC's Student Union Program, Entertainment, and Recreation Board (SUPERB) is a student-run, non-profit branch dedicated to providing entertainment for the campus and community. Founded in 1964, SUPERB's programming includes the Friday Film Series, free Noon Concerts on Lower Sproul Plaza, Comedy Competitions, Poker Tournaments, free Sneak Previews of upcoming movies, and more.
Communications media[edit]
UC Berkeley's student-run online television station, CalTV, was formed in 2005 and broadcasts online. It is run by students with a variety of backgrounds and majors.
UC Berkeley's independent student-run newspaper is The Daily Californian. Founded in 1871, The Daily Cal became independent in 1971 after the campus administration fired three senior editors for encouragi

banner overhanging the Memorial Stadium Student Section and Haas Pavilion, the California Victory Cannon, Card Stunts and The Big "C" among other duties. The Rally Committee is also responsible for safekeeping of the Stanford Axe when it is in Cal's possession.[105] The Chairman of the Rally Committee holds the title "Custodian of the Axe" while it is in the Committee's care. Overlooking the main Berkele

ear, who debuted in 1941. Previously, live bear cubs were used as mascots at Memorial Stadium. It was decided in 1940 that a costumed mascot would be a better alternative to a live bear. Named after the Oski-wow-wow yell, he is cared for by the Oski Committee, whose members have exclusive knowledge of the identity of the costume-wearer.[103]
The University of California Marching Band, which has served the university since 1891, performs at every home football game and at select road games as well. A smaller subset of the Cal Band, the Straw Hat Band, performs at basketball games, volleyball games, and other campus and community events.[104]
The UC Rally Committee, formed in 1901, is the official guardian of California's Spirit and Traditions. Wearing their traditional blue and gold rugbies, Rally Committee members can be seen at all major sporting and spirit events. Committee members are charged with the maintenance of the five Cal flags, the large California banner overhanging the Memorial Stadium Student Section and Haas Pavilion, the California Victory Cannon, Card Stunts and The Big "C" among other duties. The Rally Committee is also responsible for safekeeping of the Stanford Axe when it is in Cal's possession.[105] The Chairman of the Rally Committee holds the title "Custodian of the Axe" while it is in the Committee's care.
Overlooking the main Berkeley campus from the foothills in the east, The Big "C" is an important symbol of California school spirit. The Big "C" has its roots in an early 20th-century campus event called "Rush," which pitted the freshman and sophomore classes against each other in a race up Charter Hill that often developed into a wrestling match. It was eventually decided to discontinue Rush and, in 1905, the freshman and sophomore classes banded together in a show of unity to build the Big "C".[106] Owing to its prominent position, the Big "C" is often the target of pranks by rival Stanford University students who paint the Big "C" red and also fraternities and sororities who paint it their organization's colors. One of the Rally Committee's functions is to repaint the Big "C" to its traditional color of King Alfred Yellow.
Cal students invented the college football tradition of card stunts. Then known as Bleacher Stunts, they were first performed during the 1910 Big Game and consisted of two stunts: a picture of the Stanford Axe and a large blue "C" on a white background. The tradition continues today in the Cal student section and incorporates complicated motions, for example tracing the Cal script logo on a blue background with an imaginary yellow pen.[107]
The California Victory Cannon, placed on Tightwad Hill overlooking the stadium, is fired before every football home game, after every score, and after every Cal victory. First used in the 1963 Big Game, it was originally placed on the sidelines before moving to Tightwad Hill in 1971. The only time the cannon ran out of ammunition was during a game against Pacific in 1991, whe

The north side of Doe Library with Memorial Glade in the foreground. Library system[edit] Main article: University of California, Berkeley Library System Berkeley's 32 libraries tie together to make the fourth largest academic library in the United States surpassed only by Harvard University Library, Ya

3.84
3.80
3.90
Berkeley received 77,485 freshmen and transfer applications for admission to the undergraduate program in Fall 2012; 14,527 were admitted (18.7%).[94] Of the Fall 2011 cohort, 97% of freshmen enrolled the next year. The four-year graduation rate for the Fall 2007 cohort was 61%, and the six-year rate was 88%.[85][95] Admitted freshman applicants had an average high school GPA of 4.16, an average ACT Composite score of 30, and an average combined SAT score of 2067 (average SAT scores of 674 for Critical Reading, 701 for Mathematics, and 692 for Writing).[96] Berkeley's enrollment of National Merit Scholars was third in the nation until 2002, when participation in the National Merit program was discontinued.[97] 31% of admitted students receive federal Pell grants.[98]
There were 18,231 applications to masters programs with 20% admitted and 14,361 applications to doctoral program with 16% admitted.[85]


The north side of Doe Library with Memorial Glade in the foreground.
Library system[edit]
Main article: University of California, Berkeley Library System
Berkeley's 32 libraries tie together to make the fourth largest academic library in the United States surpassed only by Harvard University Library, Yale University Library and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.[99] However, considering the relative sizes and ages of these University libraries, Berkeley's collections have been growing about as fast as those at Harvard and Yale combined: specifically, 1.8 times faster than Harvard, and 1.9 times faster than Yale. In 2003, the Association of Research Libraries ranked it as the top public and third overall university library in North America based on various statistical measures of quality.[100] As of 2006, Berkeley's library system contains over 11 million volumes and maintains over 70,000 serial titles.[101] The libraries together cover over 12 acres (4.9 ha) of land and form one of the largest library complexes in the world.[102] Doe Library serves as the library system's reference, periodical, and administrative center, while most of the main collections are housed in the subterranean Gardner Main Stacks and Moffitt Undergraduate Library. The Bancroft Library, with holdings of over 400,000 printed volumes, maintains a collection that documents the history of the western part of North America, with an emphasis on California, Mexico and Central America.
Student life and traditions[edit]



Sather gate and Sather tower (the Campanile) from Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus
The official university mascot is Oski the B

Undergraduate Graduate California U.S. Census African American 3.4% 3.4% 6.2% 12.0% Asian American 39.2% 17.8% 13% 4.7% White American 29.0% 38.0% 40.1% 63.7% Hispanic American 12.6% 7.1% 37.6% 16.3% Native American 0.8% 1.1% 1% 0.7%

Student body[edit]
Demographics of student body[85][86]
Undergraduate    Graduate    California    U.S. Census
African American    3.4%    3.4%    6.2%    12.0%
Asian American    39.2%    17.8%    13%    4.7%
White American    29.0%    38.0%    40.1%    63.7%
Hispanic American    12.6%    7.1%    37.6%    16.3%
Native American    0.8%    1.1%    1%    0.7%
International student    10.4%    20.3%    N/A    N/A
Other/Unknown    4.7%    11.9%    2.1%    2.4%
Berkeley enrolled 25,574 undergraduate and 10,125 graduate students in Fall 2012.[2] Women make up 52.3% of undergraduate enrollments and 45.5% graduate and professional students.[2] 82% of undergraduates and 43% of graduate and professional students are California residents.[85] In the wake of Proposition 209, the plurality of Asian American students and under-representation of African-American and Hispanic students has received national attention.[87][88][89][90]
First-Time Freshman Profile[91][92][93]
     2013
(preliminary)    2012    2011    2010    2009    2008
Applicants   
67,658
61,731    52,966    50,393    48,650    48,461
Admits   
14,101
11,130    11,441    10,844    10,528    10,474
 % Admitted   
20.8
18.0
21.6
21.5
21.6
21.6
Enrolled       
4,162
4,443
4,109
4,356
4,261
Average GPA       
3.84
3.83