Campus & community, Campus news, Events at Berkeley

Swing, science, sentience make for a memorable Cal Day 2017

UC Berkeley opened its doors Saturday for Cal Day, its annual all-day open house, and tens of thousands prospective and current students, alumni, families and friends flooded the campus to explore its many resources and opportunities.

By Anne Brice

kid and adult holding magnifying glass
Two-year-old Ashton plays with a magnifying glass with Berkeley student Morgan Ridings, who is majoring in legal studies and anthropology. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

April 24, 2017

UC Berkeley welcomed the world to campus Saturday for Cal Day, its annual all-day open house, and tens of thousands prospective and current students, alumni, families and friends flooded the campus to explore its many resources and opportunities.

kid and adult holding magnifying glass
Two-year-old Ashton plays with a magnifying glass with Berkeley student Morgan Ridings, who is majoring in legal studies and anthropology. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
lab assistant lights gas on fire
Laboratory assistant lights various gasses at the event "Is the College of Chemistry right for you?" (UC Berkeley photo by Sara Yogi)
cal day visitors
Visitors could hold a human brain on the lawn outside of the Valley Life Science Building. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
cal day visitors
Celli@Berkeley, composed of 16 students, was created one night in 2012 after the cellists of the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra realized that the only thing better than one cello was many, many cellos. (UC Berkeley photo by Ken Li)
Randy Schekman
Randy Schekman, 2013 Nobel laureate and professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, welcomes new students to campus. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
cal day visitors
Berkeley Formula Racing, a campus club, designs, fabricates and competes with small formula-style race cars against other colleges from around the world. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
man holding instrument
Local shop owner Jim Widess demonstrates different musical gourd instruments at the Phoebe Hearst Anthropology Museum. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
cal day visitors
Hand painting in the archaeology department (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
cal day visitors
Designers showed off digital fabrication tools at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation's makerspace. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
kid weaving
Marcus B. visits tie table loom weaving station at the Phoebe Heart Anthropology Museum. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Cal dance team
Rally performance by the Cal Band and Dance Team (UC Berkeley photo by Sara Yogi)
cal day visitors
Kids painted boxes and built their own city in the College of Environmental Design. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
kid throwing ball knocking over cups
Kids play games in the "Kid Zone" on the North Field, sponsored by the ASUC and Alpha Phi Omega. (UC Berkeley photo by Sara Yogi)
mom and daughter work on ceramics
Marina Gabriel (left) and her daughter Cierra McGee, 4, work with clay at the ceramics experience station. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
cal day visitors
Specimens in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (UC Berkeley photo by Ken Li)
cal day visitors
Young scientists examine specimens in the Valley Life Sciences Building. (UC Berkeley photo by Ken Li)
students
Berkeley students (left to right) Peter Martinka, Bianka Aguilar and Ridhaa Sachidanandan volunteer at the Zoo Archaeology table. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
cal day visitors
The campus's University Gospel Chorus performs. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
cal day visitors
Berkeley Talks with Cal Olympians (left to right) Caitlin Smith (formerly Leverenz), Toni-Ann Williams and Noemie Thomas, hosted by Chancellor Nicholas Dirks. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
dancer
Su Nu Nu Shinal dancer at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology (UC Berkeley photo by Sara Yogi)
cal day visitors
American rock band Allah-Las performed at Memorial Glade. (UC Berkeley photo by Ken Li)
Cal Marching Band
Cal Marching Band drummers perform on Sproul Plaza. (UC Berkeley photo by Sara Yogi)

Visitors chose from 400 events, performances, tours, faculty talks and hands-on activities designed to show off every side of the Berkeley campus. Some hopped on a trolley for a guided tour, while others got a bird’s eye view with a free ride to the top of the Campanile.

Science lovers could hold a human brain at the Valley Life Sciences Building, identify plants in the Jepson herbarium or examine some of the 6,400 unusual specimens used for research in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.

Dozens of booths lined Sproul Plaza, where event goers could learn about the hundreds of academic departments on campus. Student groups, from the LEAD Center to the Cal Band, talked up their programs to prospective students. Staffers for the student-run newspaper the Daily Cal handed out copies.

At noon, a crowd gathered at Memorial Glade to rally for science, part of the larger international March for Science, where millions across the globe demonstrated their support for scientific research and evidence-based policies.

“This country is not alone in the march toward progress, and climate science will advance,” said 2013 Nobel laureate and professor of molecular and cell biology Randy Schekman, who spoke at the rally. “We may sustain a temporary setback in the U.S. But the march toward progress, fueled by the scientific method, will advance, and ultimately tackle, our greatest challenges.”

Not one to shy away from crowds, Oski, the Cal mascot, busted a move with the Cal Dance team during a performance to hoots and hollers from the audience. Those wanting to try out their own steps could take a free swing dance lesson on Lower Sproul. Some even got a hug from BRETT, the first general-purpose robot created in Berkeley’s Robot Learning Lab.

For a list of all the events offered and to see more photos from the day, visit calday.berkeley.edu/.