University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine (UCI, UC Irvine, or Irvine), founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA. UCI is a Top Ten Public Research University recognized worldwide, that is considered as a Public Ivy and is ranked as a Tier 1 university according to the USNWR university rankings for its academic rigor. Member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, UCI is among the most popular campuses in the University of California system with nearly 28,000 students, 1,100 faculty members and 9,000 staff. Increasingly a first-choice campus for students nationwide, UCI ranks among the top U.S. universities, public and private, in the number of undergraduate applications and continues to admit freshmen with highly competitive academic profiles.

UC Irvine's name originated from the Irvine Ranch, a region of land historically owned by The Irvine Company. The Irvine Company donated 1000 acres for a single dollar and sold another 510 acres to the University of California. In 1971, the University of California and the Irvine Company planned a city around the campus, which was incorporated as the city of Irvine.

UCI also maintains the UC Irvine Health Sciences system with its flagship UCI Medical Center in the city of Orange, the University of California, Irvine, Arboretum, and a portion of the University of California Natural Reserve System.

Early years
The University of California, Irvine was one of three new campuses established in the 1960s under the California Master Plan for Higher Education with the San Diego and Santa Cruz campuses. During the 1950s, the University of California saw the need for the new campuses to handle both the large number of college-bound World War II veterans (largely due to the G. I. Bill) and the expected increase in enrollment from the post-war 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 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. Unlike most other University of California campuses, UCI was not named for the city it was built in; at the time of the university's founding (1965), the current city of Irvine (established in 1975) did not exist. The name "Irvine" is a reference to James Irvine, a landowner who administered the 94000 acre Irvine Ranch. In 1960, The Irvine Company sold 1000 acre 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 acre in 1964 for housing and commercial developments. Much of the land that was not purchased by UCI (which is now occupied by the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Newport Beach, and Newport Coast) is now held under The Irvine Company. 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 [purpose]."

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 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
As the largest employer in Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion with an operating budget of almost $1.9 billion for 2008 including $328 million in extramural research funding. Numerous other educational and training opportunties are offered in numerous areas ranging from physician residency programs at UC Irvine's Medical Center to community certificate programs and other coursework through University Extension.

In 2010, UC Irvine offered (B.S. & B.A) degree programs in 84 undergraduate majors and 64 minors. On the graduate student level, UC Irvine offered 98 advanced degree programs campus-wide; i.e., 51 master's, 44 Ph.D., an M.D., an Ed.D. and the J.D. degree programs. UC Irvine conferred 6,887 undergraduate and graduate degrees during its 2008 Commencement Ceremonies.

Future growth
As a part of its long-term efforts to "attain flagship status," UC Irvine has implemented construction projects (estimated to cost $1.3 billion over the next decade) that will accelerate the campus build-out and employ the remainder of the university's land grant. The exponential increase in construction activity is a part of the Strategy for Academic Development at UCI through 2015, a master plan that outlines the vision of making UCI a first-choice university for college applicants nationwide. This increase also spawned a popular backronym of UCI: "Under Construction Indefinitely".

Campus


The layout of the core campus resembles a rough circle with its center being Aldrich Park, initially known as Central Park, and lined up by the Ring Road and buildings surrounding the road. To further emphasize the layout, academic units are positioned relative to the center, wherein undergraduate schools are closer to the center than the graduate schools.

Within Aldrich Park, there are numerous thickly-wooded trees indigenous to the local Mediterranean climate. The very center of the park features a garden and a memorial plaque of UCI's founding. The park itself has a network of paved and dirt pathways shared by pedestrians and cyclists.

Ring Road is the main pedestrian road used by students and faculty to travel around the core campus. The road measures up to a perfect mile and completely encircles Aldrich Park. Most schools and libraries are lined up by this road with each of these schools having their own central plaza which also connects to the Aldrich Park.

Other areas of the university outside of the core campus such as the College of Medicine and the School of Arts are connected by four pedestrian bridges. Beyond the core campus and the bridges, the layout of the campus is more suburban.

Surroundings
UCI is close to beaches, mountains, and the attractions of Southern California. Although the campus is located in the city of Irvine, it is located very close to the city of Newport Beach; in fact, the campus itself is directly bounded by the city of Newport Beach and Newport Coast on many sides. The western side of the campus borders the San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve, through which Campus Drive connects UCI to the 405 freeway. The northern and eastern sides of UCI are adjacent to Irvine proper; the eastern side of the campus is delineated by Bonita Canyon Road, which turns into Culver Drive at its northern terminus and offers links to the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road and 405 freeway, respectively. Additionally, UCI's southern boundary is adjacent to the San Joaquin Transportation Corridor.

There exists a "North Campus" that houses the Facilities Management Department, the Faculty Research Facility, Central Receiving, Fleet Services, the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory, and numerous other functions. It is located next to the UCI Arboretum; both the North Campus and the arboretum are located about 1 mi from the main campus.

William Pereira's original street layout for the region surrounding the University had a wingnut-shaped loop road as the main thoroughfare, which twice crossed the campus. However, the Irvine Company's development plans expanded before it could be completed, and portions of California, Carlson, Harvard and Turtle Rock roads today constitute segments of what would have been the Loop Road.

Despite the suburban environment, a variety of wildlife inhabits the University's central park, open fields, and wetlands. The university has bobcats, mountain lions, hawks, golden eagles, great blue herons, squirrels, opossums, peregrine falcons, rabbits, raccoons, owls, skunks, weasels, bats, and coyotes. The UCI Arboretum hosts a collection of plants from California and Mediterranean climates around the world. The small rabbits in particular are very numerous and can be seen across campus in high numbers, especially during hours of low student traffic.

Architecture


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 and expressionistic shapes with elements of classic California architecture such as red tiled roofs and clay-tiled walkways. These buildings featured an innovative structural design that freed the interiors from support columns in order to allow future alterations of their floor plans. 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 emphasized a much more colorful, postmodern approach that somewhat contradicted the earthy, organic designs of the early buildings. Architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi, Eric Owen Moss, James Stirling and Arthur Erickson were brought in to bring the campus more "up to date". The recession in the early 1990s along with internal politics led to a change in direction, due to the reduced capital budget, and changing attitudes towards architectural innovation at the University. 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." In 2009 the Humanities Gateway building opened and was designed by Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA of Fentress Architects.

As of 2005, the campus has more than 200 buildings and encompasses most of the university's 1,500 acre. The campus is in the midst of a $1.1 billion construction campaign.

Libraries and study centers


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 intimate 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 offers a large number of study areas, auditoriums, and two food courts and therefore 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.

Tunnels
An underground network of tunnels runs between many of the major buildings on campus and the Central Plant, with the major trunk passage located beneath Ring Road. Smaller tunnels branch off from this main passage to reach individual buildings, carrying electrical and air-conditioning utilities from the Central Plant. These tunnels have been the subject of much campus lore, the most popular story being that the tunnels were constructed to facilitate the safe evacuation of faculty in the event of a student riot. The main tunnel actually appears above ground in the form of an unusually thick bridge near the Engineering Tower, in an area where Ring Road crosses between two hills.

Governance
Like other University of California campuses, UC Irvine is governed by a Chancellor who has significant authority over campus academic and planning affairs. The Chancellor, in turn, is nominated by and is responsible to the Regents of the University of California and the UC President:


 * 1962 Daniel G. Aldrich
 * 1984 Jack W. Peltason
 * 1993 Laurel L. Wilkening
 * 1998 Ralph J. Cicerone
 * 2005 Michael V. Drake

After the Chancellor, the second most senior official is the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. He serves as the university's chief academic and operating officer. Every school on campus reports to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost through a Dean, and all other academic and administrative units report to his office through a Vice Chancellor or chief administrator. A partial list of these units includes Campus Recreation, Intercollegiate Athletics, Planning and Budget, Student Affairs, UC Irvine Libraries, UC Irvine Medical Center, and University Advancement. The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost also governs the faculty senate.

Academics
UC Irvine's academic units are referred to as Schools. There are eight undergraduate Schools, two graduate Schools, one Department, and one field of Interdisciplinary Studies. The most recent academic unit, the College of Health Sciences, was established in 2004. On November 16, 2006, the UC Regents approved the establishment of the School of Law, which opened in fall 2009. The remaining academic units offer accelerated or community education in the form of Summer Session and UC Irvine Extension. Additionally, UCI's Campuswide Honors Program is implementing an independent study program, which will allow students to develop their own curriculum across Schools and graduate with their own self-created major.




 * Academic units:
 * Claire Trevor School of the Arts
 * School of Biological Sciences
 * Henry Samueli School of Engineering
 * College of Health Sciences
 * School of Humanities
 * Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
 * School of Physical Sciences
 * School of Social Ecology
 * School of Social Sciences
 * School of Law
 * School of Medicine
 * Paul Merage School of Business
 * Department of Education
 * Interdisciplinary Studies
 * Summer Session
 * UC Irvine Extension

Research organizations
To complement its mission as a research university, UCI hosts a diverse array of nationally and internationally-recognized research organizations. These organizations are either chaired by or composed of UCI faculty, frequently draw upon undergraduates and graduates for research assistance, and produce a multitude of innovations, patents, and scholarly works. Some are housed in a school or department office; others are housed in their own multimillion-dollar facilities. These are a few of the more prolific research organizations at UCI:


 * Beckman Laser Institute
 * California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)
 * Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies
 * Center for Cognitive Neuroscience
 * Center for Unconventional Security Affairs
 * Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
 * National Fuel Cell Research Center
 * Reeve-Irvine Research Center
 * Center for the Study of Democracy
 * Center for Health Policy Research
 * W. M. Keck Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
 * Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center

Rankings and distinctions
In 2011, US News & World Report ranked UC Irvine 45th among National Universities in the United States. It is ranked 6th among U.C.'s in the National Universities in United States Rankings by US News & World Report. In addition, many of UCI's graduate programs received top-50 rankings from U.S. News & World Report, earning distinction in literary criticism and theory (1), behavioral neuroscience (5), Criminology, Law and Society (5), creative writing (6), health care management (9), organic chemistry (9), information systems (11), drama and theater (12), third-world literature (12), cognitive psychology (13), English (16), psychology – neurobiology and behavior (16), chemistry (18), experimental psychology (19), gender and literature (19), executive M.B.A. (20), cell biology/developmental biology (21), 19th- and 20th century literature (22), psychology – cognitive science (22), sociology (27), aerospace engineering (29), computer science (29), physics (29), mechanical engineering (30), civil engineering (31), biological sciences (32), history (32), environmental engineering (34), fine arts (34), political science (35), business (38), biomedical engineering (40), engineering (41), medicine (41), materials science engineering (45), mathematics (47), psychology and social behavior (47), economics (48), and electrical engineering (49).

The United States National Research Council ranks UCI's graduate program in Neurobiology and Behavior 3rd nationally - tied with Yale and Brandeis University. UCI's Master of Fine Arts degree program in creative writing has graduated such authors as Richard Ford, Michael Chabon, and Alice Sebold. The graduate program in philosophy was ranked 17th in the English-speaking world by the Philosophical Gourmet Report, while Chemical and Engineering News ranks UCI fifth (tied with, among others, Harvard University) in conferring doctoral degrees in chemistry. Human Resources & Labor Review, a national human competitiveness index & analysis, ranked the university as one of 50 Best World Universities in 2011. The Wall Street Journal ranks UCI's Paul Merage School of Business fourth in the nation for information technology.

According to The Daily Beast, quality of life is what students most value –besides academics– and UCI ranked 16th among “The 100 Happiest Colleges.”

National Acclaimed Faculty and Nobel Laureates
Three faculty members have been named National Medal of Science recipients. Additionally, three researchers from UCI's faculty received the Nobel Prize during their tenure at UCI: Frank Sherwood Rowland (Chemistry, 1995), Frederick Reines (Physics, 1995) (deceased), and Irwin Rose (Chemistry, 2004). Dr. Rowland's Nobel-winning research was conducted exclusively at UC Irvine, along with fellow prize-winner Mario J. Molina. Irwin Rose received the Nobel Prize for his work on biological proteins. F. Sherwood Rowland helped to discover the harmful effects of CFCs on the ozone layer, while Frederick Reines received the Nobel Prize for his work in discovering the neutrino. UCI is the first public university to have two Nobel laureates (Rowland and Reines) who received their prizes in the same year (1995).

In January 2009, UCI Professor Reg Penner won the Faraday Medal for his research with nanowires.

Henry W. Sobel was awarded the Bruno Pontecorvo Prize in 2009 by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)in Dubna, Russia for his work on Neutrino Oscillations.

Evolutionary Biologist Francisco Ayala received the 2010 Templeton Prize for exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension.

Learned societies affiliations:

 * American Academy of Arts and Sciences (39 members)
 * American Association for the Advancement of Science (115 members)
 * American Philosophical Society (7 members)
 * American Physical Society (30 members)
 * American Psychological Association (20 members)
 * Institute of Medicine (5 members)
 * National Academy of Engineering (8 members)
 * National Academy of Sciences (22 members)

Admissions
UC Irvine is categorized by U.S. News and The Princeton Review as "most selective" for college admissions ratings within the United States. It is the fourth-most selective University of California campus on the ratio of admitted students to applicants (behind UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego).

The choice to offer admission is based on the University of California's comprehensive review program. It considers a candidate's personal situation, community involvement, extracurricular activities, and academic potential in addition to the traditional high school academic record, personal statement, and entrance examination scores. While residency is not a factor in admission, it is a factor in tuition expenses, with out-of-state residents spending more annually than California residents. State law prohibits UC Irvine from practicing affirmative action in its admissions process.

Of the 44,116 high school students who applied to UC Irvine for fall 2009 admission, 18,676 (or 42.3%) were offered admission. UC Irvine for fall 2009 attracted the third largest applicant pool of all UCs. In fall 2008, 95.8% of those students identified with "Eligibility in the Local Context," a statistical indicator that identifies the top 4% of all California high school graduates as eligible for admission to the University of California, who applied to UC Irvine were admitted. This law is an attempt to include minorities without violating Prop 209 making affirmative action illegal. Self reported race, broken down by major, can be found here.

For fall of 2010, the incoming freshman were predominately from Los Angeles County, followed by Orange County, the Bay Area counties, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, and Imperial County. The most popular major for freshmen is a major in Biological Sciences (23.5%), followed by Engineering (16.3%), Undecided/Undeclared (16.1%), Social Sciences (13.3%), Physical Sciences (8.1%), Humanities (6.2%), Health Sciences (4.0%), Social Ecology (3.9%), Information and Computer Sciences (3.5%), Arts (3.4%), and Business (1.7%). The average high school GPA for accepted freshmen was 4.01. The average SAT I scores were 1873, while the average ACT composite score was 27.

Student life
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 or a commuter school. However, there are a number of opportunities for vibrant and exciting social outings, as long as students take the initiative and have access to an automobile. In fact, most of the students live on or around campus. 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 1973 with three sororities (Delta Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Gamma Phi Beta) and three fraternities (Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, and Phi Delta Theta) and continues today as a very active and growing community. There are three major overhead bodies on the campus that govern Greek Life, Inter Fraternity Council, The Panhellenic Association, and The Multicultural Greek Council. The IFC governs over the thirteen chapters which are considered Greek by the National Inter Fraternity Council (NIC). The Panhellenic Association has ten NPC (National Panhellenic Conference) chapters and two local chapters. The Panhellenic community was recently opened up for expansion in Fall 2008, where they welcome Sigma Kappa to the campus. The Multicultural Greek Council was first established in 2009, where MGC currently governs 20 Multicultural Greek Chapters.

Over 2,200 students and 47 chapters make up the fraternity and sorority community at UC Irvine. The Greek community consists of 26 sororities and 21 fraternities that represent a wide range of ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. Since 1973 the Greek community has grown expedentially and has become a vibrant part of the UCI campus community.

Other major events and programs in the Greek Community include Songfest, All Greek Conference, Greek Week, BANG (Being a New Greek), and risk management programs (topics vary).

Fraternities and sororities

 * Multicultural
 * Alpha Epsilon Omega
 * Alpha Gamma Alpha
 * alpha Kappa Delta Phi
 * Delta Lambda Chi
 * Lambda Sigma Gamma
 * Lambda Theta Delta
 * Lambda Theta Nu
 * Kappa Zeta Phi
 * Phi Zeta Tau
 * Pi Alpha Phi
 * Sigma Delta Alpha
 * Sigma Omicron Pi
 * Tau Theta Pi
 * Zeta Phi Rho


 * North-American Interfraternity Conference
 * Alpha Epsilon Pi
 * Beta Theta Pi
 * Kappa Sigma
 * Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI)
 * Phi Kappa Psi
 * Pi Kappa Alpha
 * Sigma Alpha Epsilon
 * Sigma Chi
 * Sigma Delta Pi
 * Sigma Lambda Beta
 * Sigma Nu
 * Sigma Phi Epsilon
 * Sigma Pi
 * Triangle Fraternity


 * Panhellenic Association


 * National Panhellenic Conference
 * Alpha Epsilon Phi
 * Alpha Chi Omega
 * Alpha Phi
 * Delta Delta Delta
 * Delta Gamma
 * Gamma Phi Beta
 * Kappa Alpha Theta
 * Kappa Kappa Gamma
 * Pi Beta Phi
 * Sigma Kappa


 * Local
 * Phi Sigma Rho
 * Phi Zeta Tau


 * National Pan-Hellenic Council
 * Alpha Kappa Alpha
 * Alpha Phi Alpha
 * Delta Sigma Theta
 * Kappa Alpha Psi


 * Professional
 * Alpha Epsilon Delta
 * Beta Alpha Psi
 * Delta Sigma Pi
 * Phi Beta Lambda
 * Phi Alpha Delta
 * Phi Delta Epsilon
 * Sigma Psi Lambda
 * Alpha Phi Sigma


 * Service
 * Alpha Phi Omega

Clubs and organizations
With approximately 500 student clubs and organizations on campus, students can readily find friends who share their interests whether academic, multicultural, political, religious, service, social, or athletic. Campus activities throughout the year include cultural nights, arts performances, live music at Anteater Plaza -- special events such as Reggaefest, the Rainbow Festival, Wayzgoose Fair, Shocktoberfest, Earth Day … and that’s just to name a few.

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.

The on-campus housing communities for undergraduates are: Mesa Court, Middle Earth, Campus Village, Arroyo Vista, Vista Del Campo, and VDC Norte. Graduate students are able to live on campus in Palo Verde, Verano Place, Vista Del Campo, and VDC Norte.

As of Fall 2010, UCI’s on-campus housing will expand to include two new properties managed by American Campus Communities (the same management that operates Vista del Campo and VDC Norte). These new properties include Camino del Sol and Puerta del Sol. Camino del Sol is solely for undergraduate students, while Puerta del Sol accommodates graduate students.

Mesa Court is a housing community for freshmen. Mesa Court was the first housing community at UCI, has many trees and plants, a volleyball court and a basketball court. Students living in Mesa Court have a mandatory meal plan, and can eat at the Mesa Commons. Mesa Court also has a community center, a recreational center, and the Mesa Academic Center(MAC). The housing community is crossing the bridge from the Arts to Humanities, or crossing the street towards the Student Center.

The Middle Earth housing community is home to about 1,700 students. The community comprises 24 halls, two dining facilities (Brandywine and Pippin Commons), a student center, and several resource centers. The name of each building is named after J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Middle Earth was built in three phases. The first phase was built in 1974 with the opening of seven halls: Hobbiton, Isengard, Lorien, Mirkwood, Misty Mountain, Rivendell, and The Shire, along with a separate Head Resident's manufactured home called "Bag End". The second phase was built in 1989 with thirteen more halls: Balin, Harrowdale, Whispering Wood, Woodhall, Calmindon, Grey Havens, Aldor, Rohan, Gondolin, Snowbourn, Elrond, Shadowfax, and Quenya. And finally, the third phase was built in 2000 with four halls: Crickhollow, Evenstar, Oakenshield, and Valimar. Each hall houses about fifty to eighty students. The hall Quenya was built with sixty single suite rooms and mainly houses graduate students. The hall Rivendell was originally opened as a co-ed, Social Science student dorm. Special, for credit, Social Science courses were held in Rivendell. Later, Rivendell became a single gender suite for women; however, in Fall 2009, the hall has again become coed and the all-women's hall has been moved to Oakenshield hall. There are 42 houses located in Arroyo Vista and in use. There are 9 sorority and 5 fraternity houses that are located in Arroyo Vista. The sorority houses are Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Kappa Alpha Theta. The fraternities in Arroyo Vista are Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Some of the themed houses include the Rosa Parks House, Casa Caesar Chavez, International Peace and Conflict Studies, and International Village. Arroyo Vista also has many academic themed houses such as Campuswide Honors Program, Engineering, Information and Computer Science, Humanities, and Social Ecology, and has two Second Year Experience Program houses. In 2010, Arroyo Vista opened three new theme houses: Spectrum, Culinary, and Sustainability House.

Before the 2009-2010 school year, Arroyo Vista housed first, second, third, fourth, and fifth-year undergraduates all in the same community. Beginning Fall 2009, however, Arroyo Vista does not house first years. Students living in Arroyo Vista live in complexes that may be called houses, but have dorm-like qualities. Within each house, Arroyo Vista provides a kitchen area, laundry room, and a general living room. For instance, there are House Assistants (HA) present, who serve as the role as Resident Advisors (RA) and the rooms are all doubles. AV does not provide a meal plan within their housing contract, but a voluntary meal plan through UCI Dining can be purchased. Vista del Campo and Vista del Campo Norte are just up the road from AV, and are apartment-style, but are still run by UCI, so there are still many regulations and C.A.'s make rounds at night daily. VDC Norte, or simply "Norte" for short, has single rooms and double rooms for undergraduates; one common layout in an apartment in Norte has one double and two singles to an apartment. VDC has single rooms for undergraduates in the form of single, double, triple, or quad room occupancy with shared bathrooms in one apartment. To address the growing needs of housing and promote more on-campus house, UCI decided to open another apartment style housing for undergraduates called Camino Del Sol. Camino Del Sol provides single rooms, as well as a pool, community center, and fitness center. For each housing community, ASUCI provides shuttles to allow students to travel between their housing site and campus. The wait for each bus can range around 7–10 minutes; this allows fast transfer to the UCI campus.

Off-campus housing options vary widely, given a student's preferred living arrangements and budget. However, a common denominator for off-campus apartment housing in Irvine 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.

Gender-neutral and LGBT housing will be offered to students at UC Irvine beginning Fall 2010. These new housing options are inclusive to all students and may be a big step towards equality in the community. For first-years, the “Open House” dorm will be located in Isengard in Middle Earth. The Open House will be a non-judgmental space where the diversity of identities and gender expressions are celebrated. It will provide opportunities for personal development to flourish in a gender-free and transgender-friendly living environment. This gender-neutral hall allows for both same and opposite gender roommate pairings. For continuing students, the “Spectrum House” in Arroyo Vista will also be available as well. The community welcomes the cultural experiences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning students and their allies.

Athletics


UCI's sports teams are known as the Anteaters and the student body is known as Antourage, decided in 2010-2011. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Their traditional rivals are Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, and UC Santa Barbara.

UCI fields nationally-competitive teams in cross country, track and field, basketball, baseball, volleyball, water polo, and soccer. UCI's renowned baseball program recently returned to UCI, after a period of state funding crises led to its temporary retirement.

UCI has won 26 national team championships in nine different sports since 1969 and has had 63 individual national champions. The most recent NCAA Division I national title was won by the men's volleyball team on May 9, 2009 against USC (3-2) at Provo, Utah. Prior to that, the most recent championship was won also by the men's volleyball team, on May 5, 2007 against IPFW (3-1) at Ohio State. Other national titles include three Division I men's water polo titles, two baseball Division II titles, three men's swimming titles (Div. II), and six men's tennis titles (Div. II). The 2007 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. The week of April 20, 2009 was a historical milestone for the UCI athletics program, as both school’s Men’s Volleyball and Baseball squads were simultaneously ranked No. 1 nationally in NCAA Division I polls. This marked the first time ever that UCI possessed two teams ranked No. 1 in the nation, as Baseball garnered the ranking based on Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls, while Men’s Volleyball earned the top spot on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.

More than 400 UCI student-athletes have earned All-America distinction, and Anteater teams have captured 66 conference championships. Since 1983, 3,266 UCI student-athletes have earned conference scholar-athlete awards.

The anteater as mascot
The anteater was chosen in 1965 when students were allowed to submit mascot candidates, which would be voted on in a campus election. Three undergraduates named Pat Glasgow, Bob Ernst, and Schuyler Hadley Basset III were credited with choosing the anteater and designing a cartoon representation, having been disappointed with other mascots such as a roadrunner, unicorn, seahawk and golden bison.

The anteater was inspired by "Peter the Anteater" from the Johnny Hart comic strip, "B.C." Before the voting took place on campus, it is said that the men’s water polo team highly encouraged the students to vote for the anteater as the school mascot. The men’s water polo team promoted the anteater at one of their games, which is said to have increased student’s interest in voting for the anteater. Since it was "original and slightly irrelevant," it became the mascot of UC Irvine after winning 56% of the vote, beating a close second with the choice of "none of the above". The anteaters are not to be confused with the aardvark, an African animal that also eats ants. The anteater has grown to become a beloved mascot, and is the inspiration for many of UCI's athletic and campus spirit traditions.

Since the return of baseball in 2002 (the sport was eliminated in 1992 due to state budget cuts), UC Irvine has been ranked as high as #1 in the country in 2009, and has been at the top of the Big West Conference standings, which is considered by some to be one of the top Division I Baseball Conferences outside the major conferences in the country. In June 2007, the UC Irvine baseball team participated in the College World Series for the first time ever in school history. The Anteaters shocked the nation, and made Series history, becoming the first team to ever win two extra-inning College World Series games back-to-back, by beating (and eliminating) Cal State Fullerton (5-4, F/13), followed by nationally ranked Arizona State (8-7, F/10), only to lose their next game to defending National Champions, and well rested, Oregon State, having played a record 31 innings in three days to finish in the Final Four. Furthermore, 8 of the players from the current roster have been selected by major league teams in the 2007 MLB Draft.

School chants and cheers feature the word "zot" which was the noise Johnny Hart's "Peter the Anteater" made while eating ants.

A hand signal called "Rip'em 'Eaters" was created by Blake Sasaki and Dennis Wisco in 2001. When attacked, an anteater sits in a tripodal position with its hind feet and tail and tears and "rips" at its predator. The hand signal is done by touching the tips of the two middle fingers with the thumb, and sliding the thumb back, making the pinky and index finger the ears and the fingers in the middle the snout of the anteater.

In August 2007, a small stuffed Peter accompanied astronaut Tracy Caldwell on the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-118.

Aramark
UC Irvine is the last UC campus that subcontracts its food services. In summer of 2004, UCI signed a contract with Aramark, a food services corporation, granting it control of 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's food service infrastructure.

Critics argue that offering one corporation the university's food services contract is a de facto monopoly. It is also argued that the management of food services by Aramark leads to low-quality food and poor customer service, and that support of Aramark condones its poor employee relations record. Many full time Aramark employees qualify for public assistance and rely on Medi-Cal, low-income housing, and other social programs. Though these workers prepare and serve food on the UC Irvine campus in residential dining halls, they are not afforded the same rights as UC service employees. Aramark Corporation prohibits its workers from unionizing to fight for higher wages.

Proponents argue that maintaining one entity for food service lowers costs for the University, which in turn lowers costs for students. Also, the fact that food service workers are not UC employees further lowers costs for the university. Furthermore, UCI notes the large investment Aramark is making is in dining infrastructure, which will outlast its current contract and support UCI's long-range development plan.

Law school dean
In hiring an inaugural dean of the UC Irvine School of Law, which opened in 2009, the University approached Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, a well known legal scholar in constitutional law and liberal commentator. After signing a contract with Chemerinsky on September 4, 2007, the hire was rescinded by UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake because he felt the law professor's commentaries were "polarizing" and would not serve the interests of California's first new public law school in 40 years; Drake claimed the decision was his own and not the subject of any outside influence. The action was roundly criticized by liberal and conservative scholars who felt it hindered the academic mission of the law school, and disbelief over Chancellor Drake's claims that it was the subject of no outside influence.

The issue was the subject of a New York Times editorial on September 14, 2007. Details emerged revealing that UCI had received criticism on the hire from California Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who criticized Chemerinsky's grasp of death penalty appeals as well as a group of prominent Orange County Republicans and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who wanted to derail the appointment. Drake traveled over a weekend to Durham, North Carolina, and the two reached an agreement late Sunday evening. On September 17, Chemerinsky issued a joint press release with UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake indicating that Chemerinsky would head the UCI law school, stating "Our new law school will be founded on the bedrock principle of academic freedom. The chancellor reiterated his lifelong, unqualified commitment to academic freedom, which extends to every faculty member, including deans and other senior administrators."

UCI Extension
From 2002 to 2007, Capella University, a for-profit, on-line institution, paid $500 per student to UCI Extension for each of the 36 students who transferred to Capella. This undisclosed financial arrangement resulted in a total payment of $12,000 to UCI. The payments, first reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, were inadvertently revealed when Jeffry La Marca, a former student of UCI Extension and Capella, filed a public records request for correspondence between UCI and Capella.

UCI continuing education dean Gary Matkin announced the school would end the arrangement by October 31, 2007 and plans to place $12,000 into a scholarship fund for needy students. UCI officials represented that the agreement was legal per Department of Education regulations, however, UCI had tried to hide the payments and the arrangement was frequently criticized as unethical because it raised the possibility that school counselors might make recommendations to students based on financial incentives rather than the student's best interests.

Allegations of antisemitism
On November 30, 2007, the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education issued a report finding "insufficient evidence" in support of allegations that Jewish students at UCI were harassed and subjected to a hostile environment based on their national origin. The federal agency investigated a total of 13 alleged incidents of harassment that occurred between Fall 2000 and December 2006, and determined that 5 were "isolated acts" that could not be addressed because they were reported more than 180 days after they occurred. Further, the agency considered these acts, which included a rock thrown at a Jewish student, the destruction of a Holocaust memorial display, and various threatening or harassing statements made to individual Jewish students, substantially different in nature as to be unrelated to the 8 other recurring acts it investigated, which included graffiti depicting swastikas on campus, events during an annual "Zionist Awareness Week," exclusion of Jewish students during an anti-hate rally, and the wearing of graduation stoles signifying support for Hamas or Palestinians. The agency ultimately found that none of the incidents leading to the allegations qualified as "sufficiently severe, pervasive or persistent as to interfere with or limit the ability of an individual to participate in from the services, activities or privileges" provided by UCI, and that university officials had acted appropriately in response to each incident. In December 2007, UCI Administration has been cleared of anti-semitism complaints by the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Following a speech by Chancellor Michael Drake at the national Hillel meeting in Washington, D.C. in March 2008, Anteaters for Israel, along with three other Jewish organizations, issued a press release defending Drake and claiming that anti-Semitic activity was "exaggerated." Since then, 20 current and former students issued a statement expressing concern over ongoing issues and Drake's handling of them. As with most Muslim events, men and women sit opposite from each other at the Muslim Student Association events.

In May 2009, UC Irvine hosted a two-week event titled "Israel: The Politics of Genocide", hosted by the school's Muslim Student Union. Scheduled speakers included Cynthia McKinney and George Galloway. Opponents of the event described it as anti-Semitic, and have called for Chancellor Drake to condemn both the event and the sponsoring organization. He has declined to do so. One outdoor demonstration at this event included a display with an image of Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank wearing a keffiyah, in an apparent attempt to draw an analogy between her sufferings and the plight of the Palestinians in the Palestinian territories. The pro-Israel campus advocacy group StandWithUs has described this image as offensive.

In October 2009, students from UCI met with Hamas official Aziz Duwaik on a university-sponsored trip to the West Bank under a program called the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), a neutral, apolitical education group that studies the Arab-Israeli conflict. Hamas is a US-designated terrorist organization. The meeting was questioned by parties in 2011, and the initial response from UCI was that the meeting was justified, as the education group was studying the different narratives that contribute to the current situation in the middle east. After the Zionist Organization of America informed UCI about Hamas' nature and urged UCI to dissociate itself from the OTI, UCI referred to the meeting as a "misstep." Many of these accusations were contradicted by many organizations and members of the group who are of pro-Israel and Jewish descent.

In May, 2010, forty members of the faculty issued an open letter expressing concern about "hate-promoting actions" including "a statement (by a speaker repeatedly invited by the Muslim Student Union) that the Zionist Jew is a party of Satan, a statement by another MSU speaker that the Holocaust was God’s will" that have given UCI "a growing reputation as a center of hate and intolerance."

Arrests at Michael Oren lecture
UC Irvine attracted controversy in February 2010 when students disrupted a lecture by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. While the MSU had issued a statement condemning the university for inviting a man who “took part in a culture that has no qualms with terrorizing the innocent, killing civilians, demolishing their homes and illegally occupying their land,” they denied responsibility for the protests and said the students acted on their own. According to Kenneth Stern, director of the American Jewish Committee's Division on Antisemitism and Extremism "The UCI campus has had a long history of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incidents, usually tied to its Muslim Student Union."

Hecklers interrupted Oren's speech 10 times with many students cheering them in support. Among other slogans, the hecklers yelled, "Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech," "killers" and "how many Palestinians did you kill?" After the fourth disruption, Oren took a 20-minute leave before returning to the podium. Before continuing he said, "I’ve spent most of my life living in and studying the Middle East and one of the great and eternal cultural facets of the Middle East is hospitality...even if you do not agree with them, even if they’re ostensibly your enemy. I’m your guest here and I’m asking for the Middle Eastern hospitality for your guest, I’ve come into your house." By the end of the program, 11 UC Irvine and Riverside students were reportedly arrested.

According to New University newspaper, 11 students were charged with section 403 of the UCIPD penal code – disrupting a public event on the University’s property, for their actions. Nine were enrolled at UCI and three were from UCR.

During the event, UCI Chancellor Michael Drake and political science department chair Mark Petracca "chided the protesting crowd and called the disruptions embarrassing." At one point, Chairman Petracca yelled "Shame on you" to the heckling crowd. In a statement issued the next day, UCI Chancellor Drake called the students' behavior "intolerable," saying that "Freedom of speech is among the most fundamental, and among the most cherished of the bedrock values our nation is built upon." UCI Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky also condemned the disruptions. He stated, "Imagine if they had brought their own speaker and that person had been shouted down. There would be no free speech. There is no right to a ‘heckler’s veto.’"

In response, the university suspended the group for the 2010-2011 school year and the group will undergo a probationary period for the following year. In addition, the members will be responsible for completing a collective 50 community service hours before the group can be reinstated. The Muslim Student Union has appealed the suspension. The punishment was later modified to one academic quarter, one hundred hours of community service, and two years probation.

The Zionist Organization of America, describing UCI as "a campus that permitted bigotry", has called for college-bound students and financial donors to avoid UCI.

Notable alumni
As of 2011, UCI has more than 124,000 alumni. As with any major university, many UC Irvine alumni have achieved fame after graduating. These people include athletes (Steve Scott, Scott Brooks, Greg Louganis and 34 Olympians), Broadway, film, and television actors (Bob Gunton, Jon Lovitz), and technological innovators (Roy Fielding and Paul Mockapetris).

The UC Irvine writing program has produced a number of authors, such as Michael Chabon, James McMichael, Robert Peters, Alice Sebold, Aimee Bender, Richard Ford, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marti LeimbachWhitney Otto and T. Jefferson Parker. The renown of these writers has contributed to the national reputation of the school's creative writing program. More recent alumni include Glen David Gold, Maile Meloy, Alex Espinoza and Joshua Ferris.

Several members of the faculty have been honored with the Nobel and Pulitzer.

In 1995, two UCI Professors earned the Nobel Prize :
 * Dr. Frank Sherwood Rowland, Chemistry
 * Dr. Frederick Reines, Physics

In 2004, UCI earned its third Nobel:
 * Dr. Irwin Rose, Chemistry

Claude Yarbrough (aka Jonathan Pendragon), class of '76: two-time winner of the Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year Award. Named by Magic Magazine as one of the most influential magicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has starred with his partner/wife and UCI graduate, Charlotte Brown (aka Charlotte Pendragon) known together as The Pendragons in over 14 Prime Time TV specials on ABC, NBC and CBS.

Ralph Cicerone, an earth system science professor and former chancellor, is currently president of the National Academy of Sciences. Cicerone has been vocal in raising awareness on the issue of Global Warming. An article in Rolling Stone Magazine, described Cicerone as "The Hardballer" on the controversial issue.

Faculty members who have taught literary criticism and critical theory at UCI have included Jaques Derrida and Wolfgang Iser, and visiting professors in these fields have included Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, Giorgio Agamben, Barbara Johnson, Fredric Jameson, Elizabeth Grosz, and Étienne Balibar.

Movie directors who attended UCI include McG, who directed the Charlie's Angels films and is the executive producer of the television series The O.C., and Robert Beaucage, director of Spike.

Aras Baskauskas graduated with a degree in Philosophy in 2002 and an MBA in 2004, and played for the UC Irvine men's basketball team. Aras is the winner of Survivor: Panama. He was the youngest male winner in the history of the show at the time of the taping.

Michael Ramirez is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist and a Senior Editor for Investor's Business Daily. He is the former editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times and USA Today, and a regular contributor to The Weekly Standard. He is the author of a new book, "Everyone Has the Right to My Opinion". His work is distributed to over four hundred newspapers and magazines through Creators Syndicate. He has been on CNN, CNN International, Fox News Sunday, BBC Television, BBC Radio, NPR, the Michael Reagan Show and is a highly acclaimed international speaker. His cartoons have been featured on CNN, Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, and The Rush Limbaugh Show. His work has been published in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Post, Time Magazine, National Review and US News and World Report.

Media references



 * In Arrested Development, which is set in UCI's surrounding communities, Tobias Fünke watches a performance of the Blue Man Group at UCI's Bren Events Center.


 * Neuroscience labs and exteriors of UCI were featured in the science fiction-comedy film Creator.
 * Several of the Futurist buildings at UCI were involved in the production of the movie Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
 * The Engineering Tower is used as the STRATA Headquarters exterior in Saul of the Mole Men, an Adult Swim TV show inspired in part by the Planet of the Apes film series.
 * Aldrich Park was shown during the wheelchair chase scene in the Mel Brooks film Silent Movie.
 * The school was featured in the production of Ocean's Eleven. In the movie, the building where the crew steals the EMP device is actually the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility located in the College of Medicine.


 * Exterior shots of the Langson library were used in the film Poltergeist.


 * UCI is frequently mentioned in the television series The O.C. Its executive producer, Joseph McGinty Nichol, is a UCI graduate.


 * Commander Chuck Street, a helicopter pilot, traffic reporter for KIIS-FM and KTLA, and local celebrity, landed in front of UCI's Gateway Study Center next to the Administration building lawn to participate in 2004 Wayzgoose celebrations. This stunt was made riskier in light of an unexpected rainstorm that occurred during his landing, which eventually led to the event's cancellation. Commander Chuck also made an appearance at UCI Medical Center in 2006.
 * On MTV's America's Best Dance Crew, various parts of UCI are shown as the dance crew Kaba Modern is at UCI.
 * Neuroscientist lecturer James Fallon was featured, along with credits to University of California Irvine, on an episode of Criminal Minds during its 5th season.
 * Parts of the music video for "Live A Little" by Gym Class Heroes were filmed at the Bren Events Center during the fourth annual Shocktobersfest in 2009.