One of Ryan Fainstein’s favorite memories of Pauley Pavilion is being in the stadium late at night with friends, when the basketball team was nowhere in sight.
“We would just sit in the upper corner of Pauley (Pavilion) and talk and reflect while the other people were sleeping,” said Fainstein, a 2011 UCLA alumnus.
That experience was part of past UCLA Lock-In events, hosted by the UCLA Rally Committee. Students camped inside Pauley Pavilion overnight and received priority seating for the following home game in the morning.
But the experience was a bit different this year ““ with Pauley Pavilion undergoing renovations, the Lock-In took place in the John Wooden Center.
While the basketball games are off-campus this year, the rally committee still wanted to host the event to support the team and increase attendance to the games, said Pauline Dinh, chairman of the Rally Committee and a fourth-year international development studies student.
About 120 people attended the Lock-In this year, and 30 students stayed the entire night and received seating vouchers for Saturday’s game in the Los Angeles Sports Arena. In past years, attendance has ranged from 150 to 400 students, Dinh said.
“The incentive to stay overnight was lower because it was not in Pauley Pavilion,” she said. “I’m happy we got that many people for the Wooden Center.”
Fainstein has been to every single one, regardless of the location. He graduated last year but still wanted to participate in the event, and take a break from studying for his Certified Public Accountant exam.
UCLA’s Lock-In began after students from the UCLA Rally Committee learned about their counterpart organization at UC Berkeley hosting a similar event, Dinh said. UCLA students were already camping outside of Pauley for tickets, so hosting the event allowed students to do so in an indoor, festival-like atmosphere, she added.
At Friday’s Lock-In, students participated in a four-on-four basketball tournament and Red Bull’s paper airplane contest, and played Nintendo 64 and board games. Those spending the night piled sleeping bags and backpacks in the corner of the gym.
Jack Kleinman, a first-year history student, and his friend, first-year undeclared student Ryan Schwartz, came to the event for the free pizza and to play some basketball.
Schwartz said the event would probably have had a better turnout if it was in Pauley Pavilion, but he and Kleinman said they plan to attend again next year.
Roger Smith, a fourth-year philosophy student, first heard about this year’s Lock-In from a friend.
The event was one of many things on Smith’s UCLA bucket list ““ a list of items he wants to accomplish before he graduates ““ along with taking an underground tour and jumping in the inverted fountain, he said
“(I came for) the food, games and to see what it’s all about ““ to get (all) in before I graduate,” Smith said.
The Rally Committee hopes to host the event next year back in Pauley Pavilion once it reopens, Dinh said.
“Even though it’s not in Pauley, it’s fun to play some basketball and get some exercise,” Fainstein said. “(There’s) never any other event like it.”