University of Arizona School Pride

 Various outfits of school pride and tradition

The University of Arizona (also referred to as U of A or Arizona) is a public research university located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. UA was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885 (twenty-seven years before the Arizona Territory achieved statehood). The university includes the University of Arizona College of Medicine, which operates a medical center in Tucson, and a separate 4-year M.D. college in downtown Phoenix. As of the 2012-2013 calendar year, total enrollment was 40,223 students.^[6] The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents. The mission of the University of Arizona is, "To discover, educate, serve, and inspire."^[8] Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities (an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group.
Known as the Arizona Wildcats (often shortened to "Cats"), the athletic teams are members of the Pacific-12 Conference in the NCAA. UA athletes have won national titles in several sports, most notably men's basketball, baseball, and softball. The official colors of the university and its athletic teams are Cardinal Red and Navy Blue.

The current school colors are UA Red and UA Blue, recognized in the Pantone Matching System, with the PMS number 200 and 281, respectively. In CMYK system, process color for the UA Red is C: 0 M:100 Y:65 K:15, and C:100 M:72 Y:0 K:38 for the UA Blue. Before 1900, the colors were sage green and silver. The switch was made when a lucrative discount on red and blue jerseys became available.^[93]

At the beginning of each school year, freshmen repaint the "A" on "A" Mountain, and since 1914 the "A" remains a Tucson and Wildcat landmark.^[91] The "A" is now painted Red, White and Blue until all troops in foreign wars steming from the September 11 attacks return home. This was passed by the ASUA student government body shortly after the war in Afghanistan began in 2001. Later in the school year, Spring Fling, an ASUA Student Government program, and the largest student-run carnival in the U.S., has been held annually by UA students since 1965, under a different name: The Rites of Spring. The event occurs every April, and brings together the U of A community and the Tucson community. The UA club, Camp Wildcat, initially began the festival as a fundraiser and continued to do so until the event was taken over by ASUA in 1975.^[92]