History is being made at this very moment, as UC Davis admits its Centennial Class. They are freshman and transfer applicants who are accepting offers of admission that have been posted online and sent by mail since around mid-March.

The university sent admission letters to about 21,000 freshman applicants. They have until May 1 to submit statements of intent to register (SIR), as the university looks to enroll a freshmen class of 5,000. Approximately 350 freshman SIRs had come in by March 24.

Transfer admission letters, an estimated 5,800 in all, will be going out through mid-April. The university’s target for transfer enrollment is 1,900; these students have until June 1 to submit SIRs, and 265 transfers had done so by March 24.

The freshmen and transfer students of 2008-09 are billed as the Centennial Class because they will enter UC Davis 100 years after the University Farm enrolled its first students in 1908-09. The university is planning a full year of celebrations, including a major exhibition at the state fair, Aug. 15-Sept. 1 (Labor Day), and a Fall Festival on and around campus, Oct. 10-15.

Because Undergraduate Admissions recruited the 2008-09 freshmen and transfer students as the Centennial Class, the university decided to honor them by giving them the first official look at the centennial logo. The overlapping 100 appears on freshman and transfer admission letters and related materials, as well as the Undergraduate Admissions Web site.

"This is an academic year celebration, so we wanted to unveil the logo at the time we admitted the Centennial Class," said Laurie Lewis, the logo's designer.

Throughout the centennial year, you will be seeing the logo on all kinds of printed material, on the Web, on gifts and apparel at the bookstore, even on scrubs at the UC Davis Health System.

Lewis said she believes the logo "speaks to where we've come from and where we're going."

She said the straight-line left edge of the "1" represents the university's solid foundation, and symbolizes an architectural column that is indicative of education. The overlapping zeroes show forward momentum, said Lewis, design manager for the publications unit of University Communications and creative director on the centennial planning team.

The planning team says the campus community can use the logo in solid color or with a photo showing through. "That's a cool way for everyone to see themselves and their units in the centennial celebration," Lewis said.

With different photos showing through, the logo "comes to life," she said. Also, the photographic variety offers an opportunity to highlight the university's diversity and personality in people and programs.

"We could have picked one symbol, say the Quad, but there is so much more to us," Lewis said. "Our soul is really about the interdisciplinary work that goes on here."

Lewis will be working with schools and colleges and major administrative units on proper use of the logo and photo selection. A guide is posted online, at centennial.ucdavis.edu; the site includes samples that can be used in mock-ups for printed materials.

She invites people to use the online guide, and e-mail her with questions at lalewis@ucdavis.edu.