Robina Riccitiello, second from right, with Daily Bruin friends during her college years.
From the moment I covered my first story at the Bruin – nursing students protesting UCLA’s plans to scrap the Baccalaureate program – I was hooked. I loved the energy in the newsroom, the nerd-hip vibe and the chance to report for a thriving daily newspaper.
Recently, I’ve gotten the chance to reconnect with other Daily Bruin alums and we all agree that our love for UCLA channels straight through Kerckhoff Hall and our time spent at the Daily Bruin. Visiting the DB offices during Alumni Day in May, I found Bruin staffers from the ’60s and ’70s and met current students who scramble to publish daily. (The Daily Bruin is one of the few college papers that still has a print version five days a week.) I grabbed a bound copy off the shelf and opened it right up to one of my articles covering an activist group’s fight to shut down UCLA’s research reactor in Boelter Hall. That technical reporting helped me later when I covered the space industry in Europe for Space News.
I hope you’ll make the pilgrimage back to campus for the Daily Bruin reunion Oct. 12. We’ll toast to all the stories we nailed, the deans we infuriated and the feel of a crisp Daily Bruin in your hands before the start of class. And I hope we’ll be able to celebrate reaching our $20,000 goal for student scholarships and equipment. (Please click here to donate)
See you in October!
Robina Riccitiello ’84,
On behalf of the Board of The Daily Bruin Alumni Network
P.S. The nursing students won their fight and the Baccalaureate continued to be offered. And UCLA eventually shut down its little nuclear reactor. I know you were wondering.
Alumni Making the News
Daily Bruin contributors leave UCLA and enter careers ranging from law and medicine to entertainment and business. But many of us also stay in media. Follow ourTwitter list of Daily Bruin alumni to keep reading and watching news from DBAN members (and let board member Sara Randazzo know who we’re missing at randazzo@ucla.edu). Here are a few recent highlights from DBAN journalists:
Daniel Miller '05 Staff Writer, L.A. Times
Daniel just launched the L.A. Times podcast, “Larger Than Life.” The story chronicles legendary Los Angeles street racer Big Willie Robinson, whose street diplomacy eased racial tensions and united L.A. Check it out here.
Dave McNary '74 Reporter, Variety
Dave is our newest DBAN board member and a longtime entertainment industry reporter at Variety. He has spent the spring and summer trying to simplify for readers the complex dispute between the Writers Guild of America and the major Hollywood agencies. Click here to read Dave's work.
Neil Bedi '15 Investigative Reporter, Tampa Bay Times
Neil and colleagues at the Tampa Bay Times have dug into a troubling slew of deaths and poor care in the heart unit at Florida’s Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. His initial coverage and stories on the continued fallout can be found here.
Give Back
As the Daily Bruin celebrates its 100th year of publication, DBAN has set an alumni fundraising target of $20,000 to fund student scholarships and needed newsroom equipment. Nearly $13,000 has been raised so far thanks to the generosity of 68 donors. Here’s why two of our alumni decided to donate:
Sarah Wagner Rayburn
Design Director, 2002-03
“I made lifelong friends and met my husband working at the Daily Bruin. I am happy to support the Daily Bruin to help students have the same experience I did. Good reporting has never been so important, and I hope our support will help more students pursue careers in journalism."
Kelly Rayburn
Editor in Chief, 2003-2004
“My major at UCLA was officially history, but really it was the Daily Bruin. I spent hour after hour honing research, writing and editing skills that helped me early in my career as a journalist and later as an attorney. For my money, the Daily Bruin is as good a place as any to learn journalism, and I’m happy to support it however I can."
Please consider contributing to the DBAN Centennial Campaign using the button below. Then, help us spread the word on social media by sharing the Daily Bruin Support Fund link— bit.ly/DB100Campaign — and using the hashtag #DB100. Use any platform to share stories about your Daily Bruin experience, talk about how the Daily Bruin contributed to your professional success and encourage others to donate to the DBAN Centennial Campaign.
Thank you for your continued support of student journalism at the Daily Bruin and commitment to UCLA.
Latest Events
The Daily Bruin helped kick off UCLA's Centennial Celebration at Alumni Day with a special forum featuring former Daily Bruin editor-in-chief Matea Gold '96 (Washington Post) and UCLA professor of public policy Mark Peterson.
The two discussed the current political divide and the 2020 presidential race to an audience of about 100 people. Afterward, alumni joined student staffers in Kerckhoff 118 for the Daily Bruin open house to network, looked through the Bruin’s archives and learned more about DBAN projects. Check out photos from these Alumni Day events below.
Daily Bruin History
The Daily Bruin has come a long way from its days of bitter battles with the student government that controlled it. Read up on the 100-year history of UCLA's paper of record in this article by Abhishek Shetty '19.
Save the Date - Daily Bruin Reunion on Oct. 12
Send Us Your News!
Have recent work or personal success to brag about? Email Sara Randazzo to be included in future newsletters.
