2015 UCI Homecoming
Thank you for coming to Homecoming 2015! We hope you had a great time.
Browse our UCI's 50th Anniversary Homecoming 2015:
Homecoming event photo gallery
Social Media Recap Storify: #UCIhomecoming #UCI50 #UCIalumni
Homecoming Festival in Aldrich Park
Anteaters enjoyed a fun filled afternoon at UCI with a wide range of activities throughout Aldrich Park.
Live entertainment and music set the celebratory tone as alumni, students, friends, and families visited school and department booths. The festival also featured free giveaways, food trucks, Disneyland Resort Family Fun Zone games, and much more.
Some of the longest lines could be found at the Hotel Irvine Beer Garden, where those 21 and older queued up for the signature 'Anteater Ale' – a golden anniversary beer brewed by alumnus Brandon Fender ’08, co-owner of The Good Beer Company in Santa Ana. For the first time, guests were able to walk around freely within the festival grounds with beer in hand as they enjoyed all aspects of the afternoon.
The festival concluded with a large count down celebration which featured speaches by men's basketball coach, Russell Turner, men's volleyball coach, David Kniffin '05. Barney Ellis-Perry, assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations and CEO of the UCI Alumni Association, introduced the UCI Alumni Assocation board of directors as well as presented all attending school deans to a cheering crowd.
Chancellor Howard Gillman remarked on the great vision UC Irvine has set in these first fifty years, as well as encouraged alumni to become more engaged in its success. He ended his rousing speach stating, "You all have been the mile marker for universities. The world has seen nothing yet! Bright past. Brilliant future."
The crowded stirred with Anteater spirit, ready for the big basketball game, as Chancellor Gillman lead the crowd with a loud "three, two, one... Zot! Zot! Zot!"(watch countdown video)
NEW Exploration Programs
UCI’s schools exciting innovations entertained alumni with “exploration programs” with showcase programs, lectures and receptions such as “Adventures in Physics: Quantum Circuits,” “What’s the Big Deal About Big Data?” and “Arts Alive in the Plaza.”
NEW Anteater Reunion Corner
During the Homecoming festival, alumni reconnected with friends and classmates from years past in the NEW Anteater Alumni Reunion Corner. In an alumni-only VIP lounge with comfortable outdoor lounge couches, complimentary specialty refreshments and light, the prime festival location was the perfect place to reminisce on fond Anteater memories.