Across campus, posters celebrate UC Berkeley’s greatest achievements over the last 150 years — periodic table elements were discovered at at its labs, and social movements were born in its plazas and hallways.

But during this same time, the campus has continued to grapple with a history more complex and contentious than any campus-sponsored poster could illustrate.

Today is UC Berkeley’s 150th birthday, and The Daily Californian’s Charter Day issue looks to offer a more complete story of what this campus is: the good, the bad and the ugly.

We can’t cover every aspect of the UC’s history, but we hope this paper provides an idea of the impact UC Berkeley has had on the people who have called it home and those who haven’t been able to; on its neighboring Bay Area and the world at large; and on the past, present and future.