<p>why is berkeley called cal? is it b/c it is the best of the university of CALifornia schools?</p>
<p>Yeah, I've always wondered the same thing. Anyone have an answer?</p>
<p>UC BErkeley was the first of the University of California schools, so it has adopted the all-encompassing name, "Cal". It's funny, most people don't know that Cal refers to UC berkeley.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley is officially "The University of California," therefore the Cal name was tagged many years ago...</p>
<p>Yeah, it's because it was the first. Or at least that's what the UCB tourguide told me, and I trust tourguides.</p>
<p>The weirdest thing I've ever heard is people from different states calling Berkeley "Cal Berkeley."
That I could kind of stomach. "Cal Irvine," I couldn't. Especially when they extended the metaphor to "Cal Tech." ; )</p>
<p>no, it is officially the "university of california, berkeley"</p>
<p>the "cal" name predates individual UC campuses</p>