Students lined up for ASUCI’s long-awaited ZotTalk featuring Jaden Smith on Feb. 11. ZotTalks, a winter and spring quarter event organized by ASUCI’s Office of Academic Affairs, is a long-standing tradition that connects students with notable professionals and experts such as Jennette McCurdy, Bill Nye and Wong Fu Productions.
“I originally signed up for the ZotTalk because I thought it’d be interesting and fun, and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity UCI was offering because I thought it would be cool to listen to someone famous talk about their experiences,” first-year political science student Inaya Jaffer told New University.
The event offered a free tote bag to the first 400 attendees of the 618 spots available. According to Academic Affairs Vice President Shreyas Vasist Chandramouli, this year’s ZotTalk sold out within the first seven minutes of registration. The Office of Academic Affairs’ Speakers Commission team began planning early in the fall quarter and organized speaker selection, theme planning and publicization.
Smith, an American rapper and actor, is known for his leading role in “The Karate Kid” (2010), music career, philanthropic work in sustainability and more recently his vampire castle hat at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
“I think the two things that [Smith] is most known for right now are his economic state of the world comment and recent Grammy outfit with the castle on his head,” Jaffer said. “He referenced both of these things during the ZotTalk, and I think it really grabbed people’s attention.”
According to Jaffer, Smith covered his career journey and philanthropic endeavors, offering attendees the unique opportunity to understand his personal background and motivations better.
“It was really interesting to gain insight into who [Smith] was as a person and to learn about his passion for helping others,” Jaffer said. “He talked about how he gives out water to people in Skid Row, Flint, Michigan or places that are needed, which I thought was really interesting because I originally knew him primarily from his roles in media.”
Smith also discussed the importance of passion and its application to the real world.
“I liked how [Smith] talked about how everything he does is something that he’s really passionate about,” Jaffer said. “He likes to engage with others who share that same passion with him so that he can make the most absolute difference in the world.”
In addition to his emphasis on passion, Smith highlighted the necessity of creativity in both the artistic industry and the real world.
“He talked a lot about how the world needed more creative people. I really resonate with that,” first-year English student Jayna Miller told New University. “I’m a humanities major, and I believe that creativity in our field is something that AI really can’t replicate well. And so, I feel like it’s important that there’s originality in the things that people do, just like what [Smith] said.”
According to Chandramouli, the Office of Academic Affairs focuses on bringing in a diverse range of speakers that reflect the academic and cultural landscape of the real world.
“Our office does a lot of academic career-oriented events, and the Speakers Commission has always been an important part of that,” Chandramouli told New University. “If you look at the history of the speakers that we’ve invited, they’ve always been people who have contributed to the academic discourse on campus — for example, [Smith] talking about his sustainability. Sustainability is something that’s very pertinent right now, so we felt that this speaker would really help students.”
The speaker selection process for ZotTalks involves careful consideration of fame, expertise and relevance.
“Celebrities have a tendency to drive our conversations in our society, and so, when they talk about important issues, they tend to shape our opinion and our conversations,” Chandramouli said. “With these talks, I hope that students take away these important conversations and spread awareness among their own groups, and with that, I hope that eventually we will create a better university and eventually create a better world.”
Students can follow ASUCI on UCI Campus Groups or visit the Speakers Commission for more information on future ZotTalk events.
Skyller Liu is a Features Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. He can be reached at skyllerl@uci.edu.
Edited by Alyssa Villagonzalo.
