Brad Delson. UCLA, Unabashed.
Brad Delson, lead guitarist for the Grammy®-winning multi–platinum rock band Linkin Park, graduated summa cum laude from UCLA in 1999. The Delson Scholarship Fund helps graduates from several L.A. area high schools attend UCLA.
"I'm a Bruin to an extreme degree. I feel this interconnection—past, present and future—a sense of being part of something great.
"That's the way the UCLA Legacy works. At first, it's just an opportunity, a chance open to everyone. It's not passed down from generation to generation. It's awarded to those who work the hardest, those who want it the most.
"Then there's the experience. From the first day, I had an amazing variety of studies. Not just the subjects I wanted to master but things I never would have known about if I hadn't pursued a liberal arts education. The magic really happened when there was an overlap — studying something in one class and coming across it in another or, better yet, seeing it out in the real world. Those multiple connections really stick.
The UCLA Legacy is the performance–based, non–transferable invitation to attend this very public university.
"Just being exposed to the diversity on campus made the world more interesting. 'Hey, we're going to go hear this kind of music tonight.' Something I hadn't been exposed to. That was just as important as the academic stuff.
"My four years at UCLA were a cram course in cultural and intellectual possibility. They set me up to be successful at what I do; they helped make me an adult.
"High school students working toward going to UCLA may go to another college, but the fact that they're even oriented in that direction is a home run."
"So, I graduated, and pursued a career that allows me to travel all over the world and explore whatever I'm curious about. Thanks, UCLA. We're done, right?
"Not quite. There's one more piece of the Legacy, especially for those of us whose success has been hugely influenced by our education.
"I'm in a unique position to give back and very grateful to be able to do so. It turns out there's a Law of the Universe involved: you get more than you give."
"What if someone never heard of the Legacy? Or, worse yet, what if they were told that UCLA was too big a dream, not for them, out of their reach?
"That's where you come in. Tell them about this place of infinite possibility. Tell them it's theirs for the taking. Pass it on."
UCLA, Unabashed.
Eli Broad Betsy Knapp Diane Watson Julia Gouw Sherry Lansing
Moctesuma Esparza Paul Boyer Richard Ziman Warren Furutani Karen Bass
- Spotlights published by UCLA Marketing & Communications
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