5. UCLA is a public school with no agenda other than to be great
America is not meant to have an agenda, other than to be great.
At private schools, the purpose is — consistently — to make money. Just because private schools are “non-profit” doesn’t mean they don’t seek to sustain themselves by resorting to dirty tricks such as grade inflation, accepting their own alum into their own graduate programs, or making an athletics program the face of the university.
UCLA doesn’t do any of those. Although, as a UCLA student, knowing UCLA doesn’t like taking its own undergrads is somewhat disheartening, it makes sense: Why matriculate students who know nothing else except UCLA? If the point of the graduate programs is to bring in — and mold — great, eclectic, unique minds, why take in students who have learned what UCLA preaches? Why should UCLA sacrifice spreading its influence through its undergrads and integrating fresh, new talent with their own framework shaped by another fine institution, thereby sacrificing and inhibiting innovation?
Being the best and being innovative are both very American ideals. UCLA does whatever it can to stay innovative and to keep up with effecting change, something America has always been about.
4. Francis Ford Coppola changed the way Americans watched movies and made America the premier destination for film
If you try and find out what is the consensus “greatest movie of all-time” by using the Internet, you’re likely to see “The Godfather” or “The Godfather II” right at the very top. Both were directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who received his MFA from UCLA.
Before George Lucas, before Martin Scorsese, there was Coppola, who is considered the main person associated with “New Hollywood” and led the charge in innovative and unconventional film techniques which modernized film-making.
America’s primary source of entertainment — through tough economic times or through times of prosperity — is often motion pictures, and this rings true throughout American history. Coppola helped to further cement this idea in the 1970s with his innovative and bold work.
3. Troy Aikman is the most iconic quarterback in the history of “America’s Team”
The Dallas Cowboys are the most popular NFL team in America and are often slated as being “America’s Team.” Their failings are always considered a disappointment and their success is quite often seen as expected.
Troy Aikman helped to create this culture of winning after he helped to create a culture of winning at UCLA in the late 1980s.
2. James Dean died young and still had a far-reaching impact on American popular culture
Dean died at the age of 24, was credited in three movies and was nominated for six awards. He helped symbolize American teenage culture in the 1950s — a time where the word “consensus” dominated the era, and the period which ultimately led to a youth revolution in the 1960s — and helped become the face of androgyny before anyone know androgyny was a word.
He became one of the first actors to be considered an American icon and a teen heartthrob. If American cinema was one of the primary forms of entertainment, then James Dean was, for a short time, the main attraction.
1. UCLA alums are game-changers and inventors
If America is defined by one phrase, that phrase is arguably “world leaders.” America is innovative. America may celebrate the 9-to-5 working man, but America is defined by those who take risks and do something no one has ever done before. America has enough workers: America needs more innovators and game-changers.
This is exactly what UCLA is about. While most are going to college to get a job — which is totally fine — many go to UCLA to effect change. UCLA has consistently been at the forefront of coming up with new ways to tackle old — or new — issues, to examine the issues on a deeper level than no other institution can (or has).
UCLA students don’t typically choose UCLA to get a job after four years. UCLA students make plans beyond four years, and oftentimes, these alum don’t just excel in their field; they change the field entirely.
Does it sound snooty or arrogant, that UCLA sees “getting a job” as something of a bare minimum, scoffing at the idea while trying to figure out new ways to shape and progress America? Sure.
But considering we do, in fact, change the game, gives us the right to be arrogant.
Happy Fourth of July, Bruins.
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