The Big "C"

The Big "C" is a giant concrete block "C" built into the Berkeley Hills overlooking the University of California, Berkeley. The very well known symbol is celebrated in a number of Cal songs and is famous in the San Francisco Bay Area and especially on campus. It celebrates over one hundred years of athletic and academic excellence at the university. On March 23, 1905, the classes of 1907 and 1908 constructed the Big "C" on the hill and it remains there to this day.

History

Class rush and construction

Soon after the University of California's founding in 1868, a tradition known as class rush was founded. During the event, freshmen would run up the hills above the campus and mark their class numerals in the hillside for all to see, but the sophomore class would attempt to protect the hill by rolling the freshmen back down the hill. The University, however, recognized the tradition as dangerous and banned it. As a result, the men of the freshmen and sophomore classes jointly constructed the Big "C" upon the hills above the Greek Theatre and California Memorial Stadium. Once the concrete dried, the freshman class, still trying to preserve the ideals of class rush, painted the Big "C" gold, one of the University's colors.

The Big C

The Big C may refer to:

The Big C (TV series)

The Big C is an American television series which premiered on August 16, 2010 on Showtime. It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere. Season 2 premiered on June 27, 2011. Season 3 premiered on April 8, 2012. On July 31, 2012, The Big C was renewed for a fourth and final season, named "Hereafter", which premiered on Monday, April 29, 2013 and concluded on May 20, 2013.

Premise

The show follows, in Minneapolis, Westhill High School teacher Cathy Jamison – a reserved, suburban wife and mother – who is diagnosed with melanoma. The realization of this forces her to really begin to live for the first time in her adult life. At first she chooses to keep her diagnosis from her family, behaving in ways they find puzzling and increasingly bizarre. She finds new freedom to express herself. As the show progresses, Cathy allows her family and some new friends to support her as she copes with her terminal prognosis, and finds both humor and pathos in the many idiosyncratic relationships in her life.