Building Community Through Food, Fun and Creative Costumery

A record 130-plus UCLA Luskin graduate students attended this year’s Luskin Halloween Party, co-hosted by the Association of MPP Students, the MSW Student Alliance and the Urban Planning Student Association. Guests enjoyed fellowship, food and drink, creative costumery and music courtesy of UCLA Luskin’s favorite DJ alumna, Caroline Calderon MURP ’19. The Halloween gathering is typically the most ambitious cross-departmental student government effort of the year at the Luskin School. But it was more than just a night of fun among friends and classmates, said staff liaison Kevin Franco, the admissions and advising officer for Public Policy. “I often get asked by prospective students what makes our program so unique. Aside from the obvious response about our curriculum and resources, I often talk to them about how as a department we are intentional in building community through our student-run organizations,” Franco said. At the Halloween Party, he said, “I saw community come together and build camaraderie, an essential factor in creating a positive graduate experience.” — John Danly