University of California, Riverside facts for kids
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| Motto | Fiat lux (Latin) |
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Motto in English
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"Let there be light" |
| Type | Public land-grant research university |
| Established | February 14, 1954 |
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Parent institution
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University of California |
| Accreditation | WSCUC |
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Academic affiliation
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| Endowment | $259.8 million (2019) |
| Budget | $1.062 billion (2016-2017) |
| Chancellor | Kim A. Wilcox |
| Provost | Elizabeth Watkins |
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Academic staff
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1,638 |
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Administrative staff
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1,938 |
| Students | 26,809 (2022) |
| Undergraduates | 22,903 (2022) |
| Postgraduates | 3,906 (2022) |
| Location |
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United States
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| Campus | Large city, 2,131 acres (862 ha) |
| Other campuses | Palm Desert |
| Newspaper | The Highlander |
| Colors | Blue and gold |
| Nickname | Highlanders |
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Sporting affiliations
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| Mascot | Scotty Highlander |
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The University of California, Riverside (often called UCR or UC Riverside) is a big public university in Riverside, California. It is one of ten main campuses that are part of the University of California system. A public university is funded by the state. A land-grant university means it was given land by the government to focus on agriculture and engineering. It is also a research university, meaning it does a lot of scientific studies.
The main campus is about 1,900 acres in Riverside. There is also a smaller campus in Palm Desert. UCR started in 1907 as the UC Citrus Experiment Station. This station did important research on how to control bugs that harm plants and how to use plant growth helpers.
UCR's first college for regular students opened in 1954. More students joined in 1961. Over $730 million has been spent since 1999 to build new parts of the campus. This helped the university grow to have over 21,000 students. In 2013, UCR opened its new UC Riverside School of Medicine. This was the first new public medical school in California in 40 years. UCR is also a member of the Association of American Universities. This group includes top research universities in North America.
Since 2000, UCR has been known for "Very high research activity." This means it does a lot of important scientific studies. UCR's sports teams are called the Highlanders. They play in NCAA Division I, which is the highest level of college sports. Their nickname comes from the campus being on the foothills of Box Springs Mountain. The UCR women's basketball team won championships in 2006 and 2007.
Contents
A Look at UCR's History
In the early 1900s, Southern California was famous for growing citrus fruits like oranges. Riverside was a big part of this industry. Because of this, the UC Regents (the people who run the University of California) started the UC Citrus Experiment Station (CES) in 1907. It was on 23 acres of land near Mount Rubidoux in Riverside. The station studied how to fertilize plants, water them, and make crops better. In 1917, it moved to a bigger spot near Box Springs Mountain.
After World War II, many soldiers went to college because of the GI Bill. This meant California needed more universities. Local citrus growers and leaders wanted a new college in Riverside. In 1949, Governor Earl Warren signed a bill to give $2 million to build the new campus.
Gordon Samuel Watkins, a dean from UCLA, became the first leader of the new college in Riverside. He wanted it to be a small college for arts and sciences, with about 1,500 students. It opened on February 14, 1954, with 65 teachers and 127 students.
By 1958, UCR had over 1,000 students. The UC system planned for a big increase in students because of the "baby boom." So, in 1959, Riverside became a full university campus. Herman Spieth was UCR's first chancellor. He helped the school grow to hold 5,000 students. Later, Chancellor Ivan Hinderaker kept student protests peaceful during the free speech movement. He also helped UCR by starting new programs in business and medical sciences.
In the 1990s, UCR was expected to grow very fast. By 1995, about 30% of UCR students were African American, American Indian, or Latino. This was the highest percentage among all UC campuses. A law called Proposition 209 in 1997 stopped affirmative action. This meant universities could not consider a student's race when admitting them. This made UCR even more diverse.
To help UCR grow, students voted in 1998 to pay more fees. This helped move UCR sports to NCAA Division I. In the 1990s, people suggested adding law, medical, and public policy schools. The UCR School of Medicine and the School of Public Policy opened in 2012. In 2006, UCR received a huge gift of $15.5 million to help build the medical school. When it opened in 2013, it was the first new medical school in California in 40 years.
Exploring the Campus
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UCR's main campus is located near Box Springs Mountain. It is about 3 miles east of downtown Riverside. The campus covers about 1,112 acres. It is split into eastern and western parts by the State Route 60 freeway.
The East Campus has most of the main school buildings. The first buildings, including the UC Citrus Experiment Station, were built in 1917. They were designed in the Mission Revival style. This style looks like old Spanish buildings in Southern California.
More buildings were added in the 1950s. These included the Rivera Library and other halls. After UCR became a full university campus in 1958, many new buildings were added. The Bell Tower was built during this time. It is 161 feet tall and has 48 bells. It is one of only five carillons in California.
After a period of slower growth, UCR started expanding again in the 1990s. New buildings like Bourns Hall and the Science Library were added. New student dorms, Pentland and Stonehaven, were also built. The Arts building opened in 2001. Many new projects have been built since 1999.
The West Campus has other facilities like University Extension and student housing. There is also University Village, which has a movie theater, shops, and restaurants. Some parts of the West Campus are still citrus groves. Future plans include building more university facilities there.
UCR also has a group of art places downtown called UCR ARTSblock. It includes the UCR/California Museum of Photography, The Sweeney Art Gallery, and the Culver Center of the Arts. These are all located in downtown Riverside.
Palm Desert Graduate Center
UCR has a center in Palm Desert called the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management. It opened in 2001. This center helps people start new businesses. It also has researchers who study things like conservation biology and Native American studies. Students can take master's classes in business and creative writing here.
Academics and Learning
UCR is part of the University of California system. It is managed by a group called the Regents of the University of California. The current leader of UCR is Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. Teachers at UCR, called the Academic Senate, help decide the school's rules.
UCR has three main colleges and several other schools.
- The College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences started in 1954.
- The UCR College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences started in 1958. It includes the original Citrus Experiment Station.
- The Bourns College of Engineering started in 1989.
UCR also has a UCR Graduate School of Education and a University of California, Riverside School of Business. Together, these offer many different study programs. Students can choose from 81 main subjects and 52 smaller subjects. There are also 48 master's degree programs and 42 PhD programs. UCR is special because it offers degrees in creative writing and public policy. It is also one of only three UC campuses that offers a degree in business administration.
University Rankings
UCR is often ranked highly by different groups. For example, U.S. News & World Report has called UCR the top university in the nation for "social mobility" for several years. Social mobility means helping students from lower-income families succeed and graduate.
In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked UCR among the top national universities. Washington Monthly also ranked UCR highly. This ranking looks at how well schools help low-income students, do research, and encourage community service. Money magazine also ranked UCR among the best colleges. Many UCR teachers have been recognized for their research. Several have won important awards or been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. UCR currently has two Nobel Prize winners teaching there.
Research and Its Impact
UCR spends a lot of money on research. In 2018, it spent $167.8 million on research. A big part of this research is in agricultural science. This helps the citrus industry in California.
Over the years, UCR researchers have created more than 40 new types of citrus fruits. They also found new ways to fight pests and diseases. For example, in 1927, scientists brought two wasps from Australia to fight a bug that was harming citrus trees. This saved farmers a lot of money. In 1963, a scientist named Charles Coggins found a way to keep fruit on citrus trees longer. This helped extend the citrus growing season in California. UCR has also created new types of grapefruit and mandarin oranges.
UCR works with the City and County of Riverside to help people develop new products. It also manages six nature reserves. UCR has partnered with a university in China to study environmental problems there.
Becoming a UCR Student
It is "more selective" to get into UCR, according to U.S. News & World Report. For Fall 2018, UCR received over 49,000 applications from high school students. About half of them were accepted. The average GPA for new students was 3.83.
Many students at UCR are the first in their families to go to college. Many also come from lower-income families. UCR is known for being one of the most diverse universities in the nation. This means it has students from many different backgrounds.
Libraries and Collections
UCR's libraries have over 2 million books and many online journals. There are two large libraries. The Tomás Rivera Library was built in 1954. It holds books on humanities and social sciences. It also has a special collection of science fiction, horror, and fantasy literature. This is the largest collection of its kind in the world. The Rivera Library also has the only U.S. Patent and Trademark Depository on a UC campus.
The Raymond L. Orbach Science Library was built in 1998. It has books on science, agriculture, and engineering. It is especially strong in topics like citrus, bugs, and farming in dry areas.
UCR also has important museum collections. The UCR Citrus Variety Collection has 1,800 trees. It includes 640 different types of citrus fruits. This is the largest collection in the world. The UCR Herbarium has over 110,000 dried plant samples. UCR also has 40 acres of botanical gardens. These gardens have over 3,500 types of plants from all over the world. There are over four miles of trails to explore.
The Entomology Research Museum has over three million insect samples. The UCR/California Museum of Photography and Sweeney Art Gallery hold UCR's art collections. The photography museum has the world's largest collection of old stereographs. The Sweeney Art Gallery has about 650 unique artworks.
Student Life at UCR
| Race and ethnicity | Total | ||
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| Hispanic | 38.7% |
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| Asian | 30.8% |
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| White | 12.9% |
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| International | 7.5% |
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| Other | 5.7% |
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| Black | 3.0% |
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| Economic diversity (2020) | |||
| Affluent | 51% |
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| Low-income | 49% |
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Student life at UCR includes many programs that help students connect with the local community. UCR has the highest percentage of African American students among all UC campuses. It also has the second highest percentage of Latino students. This makes UCR a popular choice for minority students.
UCR was the first college in California to open a resource center for LGBT students in 1993. It was also the first UC campus to offer a minor in LGBT studies in 1996. In 2005, it was the first campus in the nation to offer gender-neutral housing.
Student Housing
UCR has four main dorms: Aberdeen-Inverness, Dundee, Lothian, and Pentland Hills. These can house over 3,000 students. There are also apartment complexes on campus for students. About half of UCR students live in apartments off campus. About a fourth live on campus, and a fourth travel to campus from home.
Some dorms are set up for specific social or academic interests. For example, there is a hall for Latino/Chicano students. There is also a Pan African Theme Hall and Stonewall Hall for LGBT students. There are also halls for students in specific colleges, honor students, and transfer students.
In 2020, a new dorm called Dundee-Glasgow opened. It also has UCR's first two-story dining hall.
Student Groups and Fun Activities
UCR has over 500 student organizations. The Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) represents undergraduate students. It helps students with administrative and policy issues. ASUCR gives money to student groups on campus.
There are 40 fraternities and sororities at UCR. About 13% of students are part of Greek life. Many student groups also do volunteer work. They contribute over 100,000 hours of service each year.
Student media includes The Highlander newspaper. It is published every Tuesday during the school year. It has been around since 1954. Other student newspapers focus on different communities. UCR also has a radio station, KUCR, at 88.3 FM. It plays independent music, news, and commentary.
The Associated Students Program Board (ASPB) plans fun events on campus. These include concerts, movies, and cultural events. Big events include the Block Party Concert and Spring Splash.
The Barn is another place on campus where events happen. Famous bands like No Doubt and Radiohead used to play there. After a break, concerts returned to The Barn in 2007.
UCR Sports: The Highlanders
UCR's sports teams are called the Highlanders. They play in the Big West Conference of NCAA Division I. Sports include soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and volleyball. Students voted in 1998 to pay a fee to help fund the sports programs. This allowed UCR to move from Division II to Division I in 2000.
When UCR was in Division II, its teams won 5 national championships in baseball and women's volleyball. As of 2006, UCR had 17 individual national champions. The men's golf team went to the NCAA West Regionals in 2004 and 2005. The women's basketball team played in the Division I tournament in 2006, 2007, and 2010. In 2008, the women's basketball team beat a highly ranked team, Vanderbilt.
In 2005, the women's soccer team played in the NCAA tournament. In 2007, UCR's baseball team won their first Big West championship. The cross country team also sent two athletes to the national championships.
Football was played at UCR until 1975. The team won two championships before the sport was stopped.
The basketball and volleyball teams play in the Student Recreation Center Arena. The baseball team plays at the Riverside Sports Complex. The softball field is named Amy S. Harrison Field. The soccer field was updated in 2007. In 2011, the old track and field facility was replaced with a new one.
UCR also has many student sports clubs. These include a Rugby Football Club and a Karate program. There is also a Boxing club and a Men's and Women's Club Soccer team.
The name "Highlanders" was chosen in 1954 by UCR's first students. It refers to the campus being on a high hill. The mascot, Scotty, was redesigned to look more fierce. UCR also has a bagpipe band made of students and staff. They play at graduation and other events.
National Championship Teams (Division II)
- Baseball (1977 and 1982)
- Women's Volleyball (1977, 1982 and 1986)
- Women's Soccer (1983)
Famous People from UCR
More than 94,000 people have graduated from UCR. A special center for alumni and visitors opened in 2007.
Alumni (Graduates)
Some famous UCR graduates include:
- Steve Breen – a cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize twice.
- Billy Collins – a writer who was the 11th U.S. Poet Laureate.
- Joe Kelly – a professional baseball player.
- Brenda Martinez – ran track for UCR and later competed in the 2016 Olympics.
- Richard R. Schrock – a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- Tim D. White – a paleoanthropologist (someone who studies ancient humans). He was named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2010."
- Charles E. Young – UCR's first student body president, who later became Chancellor of UCLA.
Faculty (Teachers)
Some famous teachers at UCR include:
- Chris Abani – a writer.
- Reza Aslan – a writer and researcher.
- Barry Barish – a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Mike Davis – a historian.
- Nalo Hopkinson – a writer who won the World Fantasy Award.
- Laila Lalami – a writer who won the American Book Awards.
- Sonja Lyubomirsky – a psychologist and author of The How of Happiness.
- Richard R. Schrock – a chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- Jane Smiley – a writer who won the Pulitzer Prize.
- Susan Straight – a writer.
- Karl Taube – an archeologist who studies ancient civilizations.
Images for kids
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Panoramic view of campus from the Box Springs Mountains.
- Katherine Siva Saubel – Cahuilla people leader and scholar, received the Chancellor's Medal from UCR
