Campus & community, Events at Berkeley

Sights and scenes: Cal Day 2023

Thousands of admitted students and their families flooded UC Berkeley's walkways, plazas and lecture halls Saturday for Cal Day 2023.

By Ivan Natividad

April 24, 2023

Cal Band play their in saxophones emphatically at Sproul Plaza

Members of the Cal Band perform at Sather Gate during Cal Day at UC Berkeley on Saturday, April 22, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Thousands of admitted students and their families flooded UC Berkeley’s walkways, plazas and lecture halls Saturday as Berkeley brought attendees back to campus for the first fully in-person Cal Day since the beginning of the pandemic.

Prospective students navigated over 200 events on campus which included Chancellor Carol Christ’s signature morning welcome at California Memorial Stadium and a noon rally at Upper Sproul Plaza where future and current students enjoyed traditional spirit songs.

A man waves the Berkeley Bear flag on front of the Cal band on the steps of Sproul hall
The Cal Band and Cal Spirit team greeted newly admitted students on Saturday with song, dance, chants and music. (UC Berkeley photo by Brandon Sanchez Mejia)
Cal Day attendees at Sproul Plaza look at the camera
Cal Day attendees and Cal Spirit got ready for a Cal Day rally on the steps of Sproul Hall. (UC Berkeley photo by Brandon Sanchez Mejia)
Trombone players form the Cal Band playing
Members of the Cal Band performed at Sather Gate on Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Cheerleders waving pom poms in front of Cal Day attendees.
Cal Day attendees joined members of the dance team on Sproul Plaza for a noon spirit rally. (UC Berkeley photo by Brandon Sanchez Mejia)
A crowd of thousands walking through Sather Plaza.
Thousands of admitted students and their families flooded Berkeley's Sproul Plaza, taking in the informational booths, spirit rallies, music and festivities Saturday. (UC Berkeley photo by Brandon Sanchez Mejia)
Attendees at informational booths
Prospective students and their families attended Cal Day not only to get a sense of campus but learn more about Berkeley's world-reknowned academic departments. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
A cute Yorkie dog being held up at a booth
Niko, a 13-year-old Yorkie, was held by her owner at the data science student organization table. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
two science students wearing masks and doing an experiment with nitrogen
Material science majors Mihir Marathe and Sanchay Gadia make liquid nitrogen ice cream for attendees on Saturday. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
A group of five students stand behind their booth table smiling
Berkeley's Aero SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers) posed at their student organization's table during Cal Day. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Aishwarya Rane talking to a Cal Day attendee.
Aishwarya Rane, a senior data science major, talked with prospective students and their families. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
A solar vehicle
Students, staff and faculty looked over Zephyr, a solar vehicle created in 2014 by the CAL SOL student group. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Attendees listening to a speaker in a small lecture hall.
Incoming College of Environmental Design students and their families listened to CED faculty in Bauer Wurster Hall. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
hundreds of attendees listening to faculty speak on a stage
Berkeley bioengineering faculty spoke with incoming freshman and their families in a lecture hall. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
People looking over a mseum balcony at a T-Rex skeleton
Cal Day attendees looked over the balcony at the T-Rex skeleton at the Valley Life Sciences building. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Lion dancers dancing on Sproul Hall steps.
Lion dancers celebrated Cal Day on the steps of Sproul Hall. (UC Berkeley photo by Brandon Sanchez Mejia)
A woman making pottery
Gianna Benetti, a staff member at the Berkeley Art Studio, demonstrated pottery making. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)
Students and their parents pose in instagram frames
Nimbus Ryu and her mother Elysia An, took a photo at Sather Gate with other newly admitted students on Saturday. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)