‘You belong here!’ Newly admitted students feel the UCLA spirit at Bruin Day

More than 14,000 newly admitted students and their families, friends and loved ones crowded into UCLA's Westwood campus on Saturday for Bruin Day, the university's annual celebration of all things blue and gold, from academics and research to student life and school spirit.

The day began in a packed Pauley Pavilion, where UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk welcomed the crowd with a simple message.

"Any university would be lucky to have any of you," Frenk said, noting that UCLA was, once again, the most-applied-to university in the nation, with more than 145,000 first-year applicants. "We hope you choose UCLA."

The chancellor emphasized UCLA's guiding principle - students first - and encouraged attendees to imagine their future on campus.

"We want to make sure that when you decide to come to UCLA, you will be convinced that that was the absolute best choice you could have made," he said.

The event offered admitted students a firsthand look at the breadth and depth of UCLA, from the university's achievements in scholarship and research, including 17 faculty and alumni Nobel Prize winners; the everyday breakthroughs by students and scholars that shape medicine, technology and the arts; and the nationally recognized public service mission and world-class athletics - and the community that powers it all.

Throughout the day, the campus was a buzzing hive of activity, as visitors - helped along by volunteer students, alumni, faculty and staff - shuttled between Bruin Walk, the Hill, Wilson and Dickson plazas, Ackerman Union and other spots, pausing to take selfies in front of landmarks like the Bruin statue and Royce Hall and sample the fare at campus dining venues.