Benjamin Ide Wheeler Auditorium

Hot as a sauna. Monkeys running the sound system. Event had to stop because of sound issues. Mics and speakers cut in and out and off. Don’t book this venue for your event.

As someone who is not a student at Cal, I like Wheeler because it’s easy to find and a great meet up spot when you’re trying to find your lost family member or friend. Most people will try to find each other on Sproul Plaza or the Campinele so this is a great spot that won’t be too crowded.
When I participated in CALPIRG at SMC and USC we would have our statewide conferences in Wheeler. This is a great location if you’re looking for a spot with large classrooms.
Go Bears!

I enjoyed the modern architecture of the building. As well as the open space, there was just a big lobby as soon as I waked in. The one thing I enjoyed more than anything was the hospitality and niceness of the people, when I got lost people were more than happy to help.

Benjamin Ide Wheeler Hall aka Wheeler Hall here at the UC Berkeley Campus. Last year, I was amongst many new incoming students who attended a welcome reception by the Vice Chancellor Henry LeGrande. There were lots of incoming students and lots of overflow. I was among the lucky ones who got a front row seat to hear welcome speeches and testimonials from graduating students who came in as freshmen, transfers, and veterans. Hearing about their experiences at UC Berkeley gave me hope that I made the correct decision to apply to be a student.
This past spring semester I audited a class presided over by one Professor Robert Reich in its auditorium. (He advised us to call him «Bob.») The American Cultures class offered in the spring, Public Policy C103 Wealth and Poverty. I am quite sure many of you have heard of the Robert Reich. Reich was the Secretary of Labor during the William Jefferson Clinton aka Bill as in the forty-​second (42^nd) President of the United States era. There was an overflow of students – officially enrolled students, wait listed students, and auditors. Reich designated the seats for officially enrolled students and as the weeks went on, auditors were allowed to have a seat. I really enjoyed sitting off the main stage and at the floor below the stage during those times. Before a lecture, Bob himself encouraged me to sit in a seat and it was okay for this auditor to sit in a comfortable seat. Prof. Reich is quite popular here in Bear Territory. I made a mad dash after a class on Fridays at noon time to get a good seat to hear Bob Reich lecture on the topic for that Friday. Yes, it was well worth that rush to be on time, Cal Time that is.
My notes here. I will concur the temperature and ventilation leave much to be desired. Could use some improvement in this 97 years young auditorium and building. It has its own microclimate. I would wear tanks and shorts to keep cool and comfortable in order to pay attention to Bob’s lectures. The acoustics outside the auditorium really leave much to be desired. Right before the start of lecture, Bob Reich would chide the students to either keep quiet and/​or keep their voices down while waiting for their turn to enter Wheeler Auditorium as there have been many complaints about their noise from the lecturer and their class before Reich’s.
Wheeler Hall’s auditorium is versatile and utilized for class lectures, guest speaker lectures, and welcome receptions for new Cal students, cinema screenings and other types of events including Cal Performances.
Wheeler Hall is named after Benjamin Ide Wheeler who served as President of Cal for 20 years from 1899 to 1919. Here is more information on President Wheeler from the Bancroft Library’s page on Wheeler:
. Half of the page is about Wheeler’s presidency. Wheeler Hall came into existence in the year 1917. I wonder how Wheeler himself felt about the honor before he forced to leave his position. Much of his influence still exists here at Berkeley in present real time.

The auditorium is too dark but the sound system is good. A lot of freshmen have their classes here

The outside is nice looking, and it is ADA accessible. The stage is quite small though, wide and not deep, no wings, tiny green room. If you want to unload into it, use South Street, access via Piedmont ave

Why the hell does Wheeler Auditorium have a Unilocal page? But then again, why do I even bother writing a review for it.
I used to be in here for those classes with 500+ people and most of the time, I hated being in this oven. My goodness, everybody’s hot ass breath creates a ball of smog and shit up in here. Especially people that try to slip a fart during lecture in the midst of all the humidity, they really don’t help with the situation at stake. Clearly people be bored as f**k when they’re in here because they have all this time to be scrapin’ shit onto the desks. I have to admit though, they’re funny sometimes and I have a good laugh in the back.
If it’s one thing I like about this auditorium, it’s the seats. They’re really comfortable for a typical lecture hall. I could barely stay awake for 10 minutes in IB 131, and the seats didn’t help keep me awake one bit.
The air in here should be a quarantine. For goodness sake, please come equipped with a gas mask before you hurt yourself and suffocate.

Now this is what I would call an unusual business. It’s a lecture hall that gets periodically converted into a cinema in the middle of the UC Berkeley campus.
Contact on-​campus group Superb
to find out when they are showing movies in this UC Berkeley lecture hall.
Seems to b the default venue for advance-​screenings of upcoming blockbuster films too.
It’s not every day you’ve got flip-​out desks available to lay your soda and snacks on while you watch.

One of the larger lecture halls on campus. Not the most brightly lit, not the newest building, not the most comfortable chairs nor the best writing tables, but for a one hour lecture, it’s not too bad. I’ve had Public Health 116 here which lasted about 3 hours and that was pretty painful.

The auditorium is pretty darn huge. It doesn’t look as though t can hold 700 – 800 students but it does. I’ve had nutritional science 10, astronomy c10, and ugba10 in the auditorium. Seats are somewhat comfy but the floors tend to get dirty from liquid spills, mainly coffee. Don’t have your cell phone go off cause it’s pretty embarrassing.