Rise and shine, Bruins. The Gossip is here!
While you were napping in Powell or doom-scrolling through Week 10, I’ve been busy collecting the whispers that kept campus buzzing this past quarter. Think of this as your unofficial recap of the quarter’s most chaotic headlines.
Greek Row: Silence on Gayley
Spotted: Kappa Sigma, on one of the longest time-outs Westwood has seen in recent years. UCLA officially suspended the chapter through May 2030 for “violating policies related to hazing, alcohol and safety.”
Details are murky… that’s where the plot goes dark. Admin statements have stayed frustratingly vague and a Daily Bruin editorial dragged the university for keeping the scandal under wraps and students in the dark, arguing that secrecy around hazing violations erodes trust not only in Greek life but across the student body.
Whether the house stayed dark after rush 2024 or quietly tried to rebound, we may never know. What we do know is that there’s one less set of letters glowing on Gayley at night and a lot more whispers where there used to be chants and cheers.
Campus It-Girls and Micro-Celebs
Monday at noon, Bruin Plaza turned into a live TikTok backdrop when influencer Adamn WhoDeyWant (a.k.a. Adam Kelly) turned UCLA into his personal fan zone. Hundreds of Bruins swarmed to dance to “Fall On,” film thirst-traps and chant along as he shouted, “If you a Bruin baddie, this is for you.” The crowd grew so intense that officials briefly closed the UCLA Store in Ackerman after people tried to push inside for a better view and UCPD then escorted Kelly to his car at his request.
Meanwhile, fashion it-girl Sophie Silva is still serving looks on Bruin Walk and spinning couture out of coursework. Her outrageously creative outfits, theatrical costume-inspo videos, scholarly-chic vignettes and student-creator charisma have cemented her place in the unofficial hall of fame of campus influencers.
If Westwood is to UCLA what Manhattan is to Gossip Girl, then the “Day in the Life at UCLA” edits aren’t just TikTok, they’re episodes. Campus is starting to feel less like a university and more like a shared cinematic universe where everyone’s a character with their own fan base.
Other UCLA stars wake you up at 8 a.m. with a notification. Take @goodmorningucla, the megaphone of chaos: campus news, student dating shows and Thanksgiving dinners in the residence halls, all before 10 a.m. Most newspapers could never.
The influencer ecosystem is very much giving “who’s on the Met steps” energy.
Coffee Break – brief interlude
What’s gossip without a little caffeine?
Tucked behind ivy and brick on Glendon is Espresso Profeta, the quiet, leafy courtyard you discover once and then gatekeep forever. It’s a charming coffeehouse and a hidden café classic, all rustic brick, Italian espresso and sun-drenched patio tables that make you forget you’re three midterms behind. Regulars call it one of the best-tasting coffees in Westwood, with the caveat that outlets are scarce, so charge your laptop first.
Rumor Has It…
UCLA gossip has its own ecosystem, where Bruins spill secrets faster than Hedrick elevators break. One student confessed to getting caught stuffing way too many desserts into tote bags they’d snuck into De Neve. Others confess to smuggling out full pizzas or enough bananas to build an altar for their TA. Meanwhile, laundry on the Hill has become a recurring horror franchise with dryers that allegedly scorch clothes and people waking up at dawn just to claim a working machine before someone steals their still-warm load the second the timer beeps. Another Yak insists there’s a mysterious frat guy Venmo-requesting people $4.99 for “emotional labor” after dates. Even academics aren’t safe: a TA was spotted grading essays on a treadmill at the gym because apparently, hustle culture has no off switch.
And don’t even get me started on the USC game. TikToks of Trojan fans celebrating like they won world peace, Bruins claiming the refs were wearing cardinal and gold while the Victory Bell rang a little too loudly across town. Fine, they can have the scoreboard… We’ll keep the brains.
Oh and be warned: everything you’re about to read is rumor territory, delicious, unconfirmed and passed along in whispers.
But don’t worry, darlings. You keep living it; I’ll keep watching it.
You know you love me.
XOXO,
Your Bruin girl