When I Was at UCLA Archive
A collection of UCLA memories from generations of Bruins
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Dr. Jonpatrick Anderson ’79
When I was at UCLA, I learned so much in the Army ROTC program. I thought that I knew so much because I was already a Vietnam Veteran when I enrolled in the program. I learned about accepting responsibility for my actions and not blaming others. My UCLA experience helped me a lot in my career as an educator. Thank you UCLA for all you have done for me and in the community as well as the world to make a difference.
Sean Anglon ’96
When I was at UCLA, I clearly remember the filming of John Singleton's "Higher Learning" on campus. Since this was the early '90s, UCLA was still a major tourist destination for many people from around the globe. At least five times while strolling down Bruin Walk, I was stopped by random strangers either asking for my autograph or inquiring my opinion about filming on the UCLA campus. Nevermind the fact that I was carrying my book satchel or talking to some friends.
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Reuben Bending ’81
When I was at UCLA as a beginning student in September 1976, I remember seeing a fellow student ride his skateboard down the path of Bruin Walk from the dorms to the Student Union building.
Dina Berg ’98
When I was at UCLA I took the Big Blue Bus to school from my rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica. Studied to and from school. BTW, my rent was $400!!
Beth Blok ’95
When I was at UCLA, the Northridge quake hit, Men’s Basketball won the title (I lost my voice for most of February ’95), and I was in Sports Illustrated (crowd shot at the Arizona game).
“What sheer heaven it was to disappear at midday down into the silent dungeon of knowledge and read the afternoon away.”
- Janet Jones, Ph.D. ’89
Glenda Braxton-Brown ʼ98
When I was at UCLA, I met my future husband. We've been married for almost 24 years! Go Bruins!
Margaret Brittingham ’66
When I began my journey through UCLA in the summer of 1963, I had the privilege of studying modern dance with Merce Cunningham. One evening I walked up the unlighted hill from the student union to Royce Hall to see Cunningham's performance at the end of his residency. A young man, an engineering student, joined me, and, as we chatted, he agreed to go to the performance as well. He was new to modern dance but sat through the evening with interest.
That path up the hill has been illuminated for many years now. I reminisce about that dark, safe time on campus when I met a stranger and introduced him to my future major.
Chelle Brown ’62
When I was at UCLA, I heard future president John Kennedy speak, saw the new student union open and took a bowling class in it. Rafer Johnson was my hero. Besides winning the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics, he rescued me at the Coliseum when UCLA beat USC. A USC band member was driving his car into UCLA students rallying in the tunnel. Rafer lifted me up and moved me away from the fender of the car that trapped me against the wall.
Ed Bush ’59
When I was a freshman, Westwood Boulevard went through to Sunset Boulevard and I parked in front of the Men’s Gym. Joe E. Brown baseball diamond was where Pauley Pavilion now stands. Ducky Drake track and field stadium was Parking lot #10 after Westwood Boulevard was closed. The then new Chemistry Building was the furthest south building on campus. Addendum: my first semester cost was $64.
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Mike Carrillo
Campus Cuts!
Alan Chan ’89, M.D. ’94
When I was at UCLA, there were two memorable earthquakes (Whittier and Northridge), one citywide riot followed by a weeklong curfew, heat wave and power outages before finals week, a measles outbreak before the UCLA-USC football game, a loss to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and Mardi Gras was still a thing. Those were some of the best years of my life though.
KJ Chang
When I was at UCLA, I lived in the best dorm on earth, Mira Hershey Hall.
Ellen Cohen ’68
When I went to UCLA, we read the most diverse literature as English majors in 1965-1969. No politician interfered and censored the books to be covered. Tuition was $75 per quarter. Go UCLA and CALIFORNIA!
Paul Cooley ’58
There was an organization named the UCLA Bruin Mountaineers, a part of the University Recreation Association, then housed in Kerckhoff Hall. I was part of it for the five years I was there, and its president for three of those years. The Mountaineers taught me so very much about the mountains and deserts of California and led to membership after graduation in many conservation organizations. It was also a wonderful social organization for this commuter.
The Mountaineers eventually became an Angeles Chapter Sierra Club Section and finally faded. I remember our sponsor, Dr. Leon Knopoff of the School of Geology.
Henderson Cooper ’73
When I was at UCLA…
As shown in the photo there was the “big field” as we called it on the Track team. We did our warm up jogs there. It was huge. We then ran up the Sunset hill to Veteran and continued around the perimeter of the campus for a roughly four-mile warm up. There was the “parking thing!” Or lack thereof. I never got a parking permit each quarter…so I paid on the back end with parking tickets. And the ultimate penalty…the police! I’ll leave it at that!
And then there was the Vietnam War and related campus unrest, Black unrest demonstrations and the campus murder (leave it at that too)!
And yet I do have fond memories of education, fun, our great BB and track teams and friends.
Bear with me for another memory… I recall being in Dykstra Hall, on the upper floors, which were female only, visiting a lady friend. While “socializing” we were shocked to reality by the fire alarm. My first response was “Oh Shiite!” My moment of panic at possibly being caught in violation of rules. But happily the next thing I heard was several male voices exclaiming “#&$%” multiple spicy profanities as they too were caught with their pants down. I survived! Got caught and reported, but I survived to tell numerous variations of that story. Not sure which one is closer to the truth. Ah, youth!
Brian Craig ’71
When I was at UCLA, I had an interesting part-time job as a driver for the University. The University had a pool of cars that could be checked out by authorized people, but often people just needed someone to drive them to their meeting. I was their driver, using a University vehicle.
A common task was picking up visiting professors and lecturers at LAX. But I had a couple of interesting people who would ask for me as their driver.
One was Chancellor Charles Young. He had a team of five or six of us and would rotate us, asking us to drive him to his off-campus appointments. In reality, we were a traveling focus group, as he peppered me with questions about campus life, academics, whatever was on his mind. The other drivers got the same battery. Our conversations were quite interesting and I can quote a number of things he said to me, still to this day. He was in the process of closing down the B.A. level programs in a number of departments. He said “An undergraduate education should teach you how to think and reason. Learn that and you can go do anything you want.” Those are close to his exact words, more than 50 years later. A benefit was that if the trip were early in the morning, I would pick him up at the Youngs’ home on the north edge of campus, and the Youngs’ cook would feed me while I waited for the chancellor.
My other regular was Mr. Edwin Pauley. He was CEO of Pauley Petroleum and a UC Regent. He often had business on the campus or other University business. I would go to his home in Holmby Hills and his butler would greet me and seat me in the library to wait for Mr. Pauley. Again, I was peppered with questions about campus life, as he felt (understandably) detached from campus. I was one pair of eyes for him in terms of student life. He was quite conservative politically, and let me know it, but at the same time, he was quite generous. He gave substantially for the Pavilion and gave his time as a Regent, among other things.
I was at UCLA for four years and lots happened during that time. Meeting and getting to know these two men was a special part of it. I was honored that they asked for me to drive them.
Steve Cristiani, M.S. ’74
When I was at UCLA, I remember the premiere of “The Exorcist” at the National Theatre in late 1973 with a bedroom window mounted on the wall and the crowds down the block waiting to buy tickets. I also remember the McDonald’s giving away free French fries when the Bruin Basketball team scored 100 points and seeing Bill Walton ride his 10-speed around campus. I remember my queuing theory classes in Boelter Hall taught by Professor Leonard Kleinrock and his excellent discussions of how the material was being used in the design of the ARPANET.
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Cheryl Davies ’78
When I was at UCLA, I loved every moment of my psychology classes, took the Santa Monica bus to the beach every afternoon during spring quarter, loved being a waitress at Bon Appetit in Westwood (tips helped pay for tuition and housing) and absolutely loved my sisters at Alpha Chi. I graduated in 1978, but it seems like just a few years ago.
Susan DePace Shaikh, M.A. ’93
When I was on campus, people still had free speech.
Paul Downing ’92
When I was at UCLA, Sinead O'Connor came to speak, answer questions from the students and even sing a short tune a capella.
“I didn’t realize then how lucky I was to be there but I am grateful for all of it now.”
- Rona Browne Gordon ’70
Maria Dungo ’90
Winter quarter, freshman year, January 1986. Walking to south campus, it was eerily empty on campus mid-morning. I remember passing the snack machines near Boelter Hall when I heard the broadcast from a transistor radio of a janitorial staff announcing the Space Shuttle explosion shortly after takeoff.
Frozen in my tracks, breathless, silent, my heart broke to pieces. Arrived late to class, in tears and completely distracted.
Dudley Dunlavey ’79
My most lasting memories of life as a UCLA Bruin involve massive, crowded lecture halls, class waiting lists, limited on-campus parking, never-ending remodeling projects and feeling like a washer in a barrel of 40,000 of 'em. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.
(I should have graduated in '78, but had to wait for the classes I needed to complete my major.)
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Ron Eaton ’82
During the entire time I was at UCLA, I worked a full-time job and frequently one or two paid consulting gigs on the side. Los Angeles is somewhat expensive, but fortunately my employers paid for all my tuition and books. It was a good time of life and now I even get decent retirement money.
Ron Enfield ’66
As a film student at UCLA in 1965, I attended class sometimes in MacGowan Hall, sometimes in the wooden bungalows next to it. For our cinematography class one semester, Academy Award winner Haskell Wexler parked his Rolls Royce Silver Cloud in the nearby lot and taught us lighting and scenes. One of the graduate students, Bill Kerby, later went on to write and produce “The Rose." Me? I got a job in computers...
I was leaving an acting class at MacGowan Hall (it was 1966) with Donna De Verona, the Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer who came to UCLA. She and I were among the worst actors in the class, but inspiration struck her as we walked across the green south of MacGowan, next to a library with an outdoor deck. She pulled out a starter's pistol she had from her swimming, and when I saw it, I feigned backing away in terror, as she screamed “You [expletive]!” and discharged a blank round. I fell to the ground as if shot, and she stood over me in triumph, then walked away.
The graduate students who were on the outside deck looked on in disbelief and horror, until I stood up and walked away with her.
Robert Ewing ’57
When I was at UCLA, many of us were commuters. Three of us commuted from Montebello, where we all lived and had attended different high schools. Timing was crucial for getting a parking place, and I frequently parked off campus after dropping off my two ride-sharers. In those early 1950s I could drive right up to the flag pole near Haines Hall and drop off two people who had 8 a.m. classes, then cruise around for a parking spot and get to my 9 a.m. class. One of my passengers dropped out after one semester, but the other stayed with me, shared the ride and we married before the start of our last semester in 1957. We shared 60 years of marriage until her death in 2017. So, I love UCLA because just getting there every day led to the best thing in my life.
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Jay Fam
When I was at UCLA, parking permit for a quarter was $300, Diddy Riese was the happening place for dessert and Hedrick Hall was not yet a summit.
Norma Flores ʼ98
When I was at UCLA, the Men's Basketball team won the national title and a little riot broke out in Westwood because of all the celebrations.
Michael Givens ’83
When I was at UCLA, in the Dykstra Hall dorm, I met the RA of my floor… and I married her. We had 34 amazing years together, and two children. It was a wonderful life — until I lost her to breast cancer.
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Jerry Glass ’68
When I was at UCLA the all dormitory football team defeated the all fraternity football team for the first time ever. The year was 1967. The dorm team was coached by Norm Dow, the UCLA varsity team’s backup quarterback. When the Daily Bruin totally ignored the story, Norman Dow wrote a scathing editorial to the Daily Bruin, which, to their credit, they published in full. To those of us who lived in the dorms, it was a big deal - like David slaying Goliath.
Rona Browne Gordon ’70
When I was at UCLA (1966-1970) I worked the entire time – in the Dykstra Hall cafeteria, the student store, an office in the chemistry department and in the little town of Westwood Village. I learned about music, concerts, basketball, history, people, standing up for what you believe and life. I didn’t realize then how lucky I was to be there but I am grateful for all of it now.
“I would stop by the courtyard in front of Royce Hall and Powell to decompress. The grandeur of these buildings made the stress of college life feel temporary.”
- Arianna Rivera Lee ’17
Jenny Grossgold ’93
When I was at UCLA, I was part of the first freshman class to select classes via telephone enrollment (yes, telephone!).
Steve Grubman ʼ71
When I was at UCLA, there were anti-war protests and classes were cancelled during my junior year. Angela Davis was a big deal. The Bruins won the NCAA Basketball championship all four years.
Daniel Gutierrez ’78
When I was at UCLA, I got my start with teaching. As an incoming freshman, I found the UCLA Computer Club located in 3514 Boelter Hall (the club no longer exists). I volunteered to teach one of the free computer classes the club offered in the evenings. I found that I loved to teach. I taught classes through the club nearly every quarter I was a student. After graduating, I started to teach for UCLA Extension where I still teach to this day. And I still love teaching!
Ismael Gutierrez ’73
When I was at UCLA, social revolution was in the air and things had to be “relevant.”
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Gary Hahn ʼ70
I became president of Rieber Hall for 1968. We won four national championships, and only lost two regular season games.
Wouldn't trade this for anything else. Go Bruins!
Joe Hilberman ’70, J.D. ’73
When I was at UCLA for college and law school, the basketball team won seven consecutive national championships. I feel guilty for leaving….
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Angela Linares Jacobson ʼ97
When I was at UCLA, we all stood in long lines at the computer labs to check email! Oh, and also when I was at UCLA, the Men's Basketball team won the NCAA championship! Go Bruins!
Janet Jones, Ph.D. ’89
When I was at UCLA, my favorite place on campus was in the stacks below Powell Library. It took my breath away the day I discovered it as a first-year graduate student from a tiny college of 700 souls. There, in an enormous deep basement, were hundreds of thousands of books on shelves placed about 18 inches apart and ranging for what felt like a half mile. You could sit down on the floor and literally immerse yourself in your chosen discipline, with books on that topic surrounding you. Was I supposed to be down there? I'm not sure, but there were no signs forbidding it and the unmarked doors were not locked. During my time at UCLA, books in the stacks were moved to warehouses all over Los Angeles, for earthquake safety. But what sheer heaven it was to disappear at midday down into the silent dungeon of knowledge and read the afternoon away.
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Ann Kelsey, M.L.S. ’69
It was the summer of 1968 when I started graduate school at UCLA at what was then the School of Library Services located in the College Library, now Powell Library. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy had just been assassinated.
While working at my summer job at the Reserve Book Room, we watched the war zone that was the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, one of the stars of John Wooden’s legendary Bruin Basketball team, often appeared at the small window to pick up reserve materials for his classes. He had to bend over double for me to see his face.
I was a commuter student. As I walked from the parking lot along Bruin Walk to the library, very loud members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) shouted their disapproval of the Vietnam War and exhibited significant hostility toward anyone they identified as military or a veteran. It was a daily gauntlet that was very upsetting as I had several friends and family in the military, including some fighting in Vietnam.
In the spring of 1970, a few months before receiving my M.L.S., recruiters from the Army Library program visited the library school. They were not in the military. They were civilian civil service employees of Army Special Services, the Army’s morale and recreation agency. After almost a year of witnessing the hostile behavior of anti-war protestors toward soldiers, I saw a way to put my training as a librarian to work to support these soldiers. I went to work for Army Libraries as an administrative librarian managing recreational libraries for the soldiers in base camps in Vietnam. That year changed my life and my world view forever. It made me a better librarian and a better person. What I learned at UCLA about libraries librarianship, and life skills helped me succeed in job responsibilities that just-graduated librarians normally don’t encounter for years. In very real ways, UCLA helped to shape the rest of my life as a librarian and as a person. I won’t ever forget that.
Michael H. Keslin ’63, M.D. ’67
Nov. 2, 1959, was the end of my third week at UCLA. I was walking toward the main library when I saw students lining both sides of Bruin Walk. I stopped and asked an older student next to me why everybody was lined up. He told me that John Kennedy, the junior senator from Massachusetts, was visiting campus to give a speech at the UCLA Convocation on nuclear weapons. He added that he thought that Kennedy was running for president. I looked up the path toward the Student Union and saw a thin, boyish looking man with a full head of red hair heading up the path toward me. His eyes caught mine and for unexplained reasons he headed straight for me and extended his hand. I shook it as he introduced himself to me. After he passed I continued my journey to the library to review my notes for Philosophy 6A. In the back of my mind I knew that something important had just happened but of course I had no idea what was to come. And this was only my third week as a Bruin.
“ I was a mother of five and married. It was during Coronavirus. I had one class on campus the entire time. I made the best of a hard situation and I succeeded.”
- Ayanna Robinson ’22
Daniel T. Kresteller ’76
When I was at UCLA in 1972, I lived on the 7th floor of Rieber Hall. The women’s wing was on the southern side. Each side had a study room which butted up in the center of each wing. For those of us who were lucky enough to enjoy relations with girls on the other wing it was often embarrassing when the ladies had to go back down the elevator, and walk across the hall to their wing. Guys who had nothing better to do would sit next to the vending machines waiting to harass the ladies walking back to their rooms. Needless to say, many of us used our ingenuity to put an end to this issue. One day we decided to break open the wall connecting the two wings that attached. A few days later, Travis Clark wrote a letter to everyone living on the 7th floor indicating that “if the wall wasn’t restored within 24 hours everyone would be suspended.” All of the roommates got together, took that letter, slapped it on the wall where the hole was and painted it Honolulu Blue! To our surprise Dean Hansen and Dean Locklear (yes, Heather’s dad) determined that the few exits were a fire hazard and installed doors on each floor creating access to all residents to each side. Needless to say, we were back in business. Now that is Bruin ingenuity!
Each year a different celebrity was chairman of the Mardi Gras, a nonprofit program during the spring break to raise money for a children’s summer camp for underprivileged children. In 1973, Jack Benny was given the honor and in April he spoke at Ackerman Union to the student body. After speaking, many of the students lined up to obtain his signature. I lined up like so many others but only had a $20 bill for him to sign.
When I got on stage and asked for his signature he said, “son, how about if we donate the $20 and I sign a $1 bill for you." That signed bill is framed and a treasure of mine.
Bill Krone ’72
When I was at UCLA, the shooting of innocent students at Kent State happened on May 5, 1970. The next day as I ascended Bruin Walk there was mass tumult and anxiety filling the air. Within two hours, there were mass protests and violence pervading the campus. Governor Reagan ordered the campus closed and 500 LAPD surrounded the campus, ordering everyone to leave or be arrested. Many students who didn't hear or participate in the protests were put upon by the police, even arrested in Powell Library and severely injured. Campus was closed for over a week. Heavy days.
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Roberta Lagomarsini ’78
When I was at UCLA, I was commuting from an hour away. We got a parking permit at the top of the hill by the dorms. My carpool and others and dorm students would walk down to our 8 a.m. classes. In the field in front of the student store, the ROTC students would practice. In the fall of 1974, they were pretty terrible! Still we all persevered. By the end of the school year they had gotten much better. One morning they told us to be there the next day half an hour earlier. My carpool and I dutifully left for school a half an hour earlier to arrive in time. They did their whole routine, marching in many formations, twirling their guns and shouting out marching calls. We were all mesmerized and when they were done, we all cheered and applauded. A great moment.
Arianna Rivera Lee ’17
When I was at UCLA, I would stop by the courtyard in front of Royce Hall and Powell to decompress. The grandeur of these buildings made the stress of college life feel temporary.
Lesley Lee ’93, M.Ed. ’94
When I was at UCLA, you could always count on herb baked chicken and fire station casserole in the dining halls.
Stan Lieberson ’69
After graduation, I turned my half-time job into a full-time job. Working on campus was great! In addition to the atmosphere, so unlike a corporate atmosphere, I could enjoy my lunch at the botanical gardens, at north campus (I worked in the engineering building) or attend talks by acclaimed speakers. On one occasion I went to hear a talk by an author I knew a little about. He was a Black writer who had once been sent by Playboy Magazine to interview the head of the KKK -- and Playboy hadn't told the racist organization who was going to do the interview! This fellow spoke in a large auditorium during lunchtime, and the room was full. He talked about his background, noting that his grandparents had been slaves in the Antebellum South, and how difficult that was for them. He related stories passed down by them, and said he realized this information would be lost unless he documented it. He told a fascinating tale of how he researched his family tree, including flying to Africa to deepen his research. And this is how I heard the captivating story of the as-yet not published "Roots," described by Alex Haley himself, one fine day at UCLA.
Sally Lindsay ’80, M.A. ’86
I was born at UCLA Medical Center (1958) and we lived in the married student housing for my first four years. They tore down this housing to build Pauley Pavilion. I remember watching through a chain link fence as people put up the rides and stands for Mardi Gras (an annual thing for a while). I remember sitting in a basket on the front of my mom's bike as she rode down Westward Boulevard and I remember walking and playing at various places on campus.
I returned to UCLA as an undergraduate in biology. I loved the campus and walking back and forth between north and south campus. I took SCUBA lessons in the pool at Sunset Rec. Center and participated in the Marine Biology Program at Catalina Island (1980). I loved it! I went on to graduate school in biology, working under David Chapman. The camaraderie I had with my fellow graduate students is something I will always treasure. I met my husband at UCLA. After earning a master's degree, I left UCLA for about a year and then came back to work in the undergraduate biology office with Annie Alpers for four years. Then we moved with our young daughter to Oregon.
I will always remember with fondness all the years I spent at UCLA.
Henry H. Lo ’98
When I was at UCLA, we all tried to smash as much meat into a bowl at Mongol’s as we could, then balance a mountain of noodles on top!
Andrew Lueder ’91
When I was at UCLA, there was no Internet, there was "arena registration" for classes that was a huge scrum; there were interest groups of every stripe competing for attention on Bruin Walk; there were no "brand name" dining options; movie showings at Melnitz could become heated back-and-forth conversations with the director present; the music library was a cool refuge; film premieres in Westwood were common; and the gingko trees in Dickson Plaza had a distinct signature scent at certain times of the year. And the cafe on the first floor of Kerckhoff made you feel you were in a different place altogether.
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Cherie Magnus
I wrote a whole book about when I was at UCLA 1960-65.
A good time to remember the ’50s.
“Arabesque: Dancing on the Edge in Los Angeles (DEATH DANCE DESTINY MEMOIR TRILOGY)”
Authur Maletz ’82
We had the "every man, woman and child" cheerleader at every UCLA football game. I miss him…
Jessica Manriquez
When I was at UCLA, we had to check out laptops from the library. WiFi was not available all over campus so we had to take notes on paper.
Derek Mateo ’96
We never lost to ʼSC, won banner 11 and founded LCC Theatre Company.
Michelle Fisher May ʼ95
When I was at UCLA, Royce Hall was closed after the Northridge quake, I watched our basketball team arrive at LAX with the national championship trophy and we beat ’SC in football the entire time I was a student.
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Laureen Lazarovici Narro ’89
The Luskin conference center was a parking lot - my beloved Lot 6.
Susan Muscarella Newcomer ’75, M.L.S. ’77
In 1976, when I was a student in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, there was an interesting event sponsored by a group called Asia Focus that was part of a wide variety of activities in conjunction with the year of bicentennial celebrations. On Bruin Walk, the group put on a Dharma Demolition Derby that included Zen Buddhist priests, led by Brian Daizen Victoria, who was a grad student in Asian languages, plus guest appearances by author Ken Kesey and comedian Wavy Gravy who had been the master of ceremonies at Woodstock.
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Dave Osuna ’83
When I was at UCLA, we had four dorms, Dykstra, Sproul, Rieber and Hedrick… we didn’t have dining halls. We went through the line with your tray and a woman wearing a hairnet plopped food in your tray and that was breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could not go to another dorm unless you got authorization.
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David Paras ’88
There was a bowling alley and a treehouse.
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Ayanna Robinson ’22
When I was at UCLA, I was a mother of five and married. It was during Coronavirus. I had one class on campus the entire time. I was a transfer student and I was still the best student I have ever been. I made the best of a hard situation and I succeeded. I had GRIT and I graduated with a 3.93 GPA. It was a dream come true and it was home to me. Go Class of 2022! I am proud to be in your graduating class.
Corrie Roozee
When I was at UCLA, you had to spend the night in the stairwell of Pauley to get good seats for the Duke game!
When I was at UCLA, I ate either Buck-Fitty or Mongols every day (and they were right next to each other).
And Diddy Riese was 25¢.
Jon Ruiz
When I was at UCLA a critical part of one’s education was the debates you could engage in with all kinds of people on Bruin Walk.
Gene Russell
When I was at UCLA the most impressive thing to me was office hours with brilliant professors. Google Raymond Redheffer for example. Or Brian Ellickson, Susan Woodward. Econ 81.
Libby Anne Russler ’76
We still used slide rules and watched as the controversy over whether bringing a calculator into the classrooms would be allowed.
We had a Playgirl centerfold as a Chemistry TA.
We lived on the 10th Floor of Dykstra Hall - restricted to girls only.
We learned that if you study the syllabus and actually do the assigned reading for class, the lectures all made sense and exams weren’t hard at all.
We took the famed History of Jazz “mick” in the largest lecture hall on campus which was, of course, filled to the brim.
And so much more.
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Therese Santalo
When I went to UCLA, everyone had scooters and we'd do late night take out from Tomy's in Westwood.
Bob Schneider ’56
When I was at UCLA from 1952 to 1956 not all parking lots were paved. One morning I parked at an unpaved parking lot in the northeast part of the campus that had a bit of a slope. It rained while I was attending classes. When I returned to my car late that afternoon it was about 30 yards from where I had parked it, having slid down the slippery surface of the lot. Fortunately, it didn't contact any other vehicles on the way down as the lot was mostly empty by then.
“I would stop and listen to Swami X for a few minutes as a bit of an escape. I remember thinking he was pretty cool for an old guy.“
- Roberta Stambaugh ’76
Joanne Hirsch Serin ’70
A few sad national events occurred. First, on April 4, 1968, while strolling down Bruin Walk, I heard that Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Then, in the evening of June 6, I was watching the California Democratic primary in my friend's room on the 3rd floor of Rieber Hall. We were thrilled that Bobby Kennedy won. Right after that, I went back up to my broom on the 5th floor. What a change in the atmosphere. In the time I was in the elevator, RFK had been assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan. We were all so shocked and sad. On May 4, at the end of my senior year two years later, National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State who were peacefully protesting the U.S. incursion into Laos. One victim had even put a Daisy into one soldier's rifle. After that, everything on campus changed. My Italian prof moved our classes onto Dixon Hall square. Then, instead of a final exam, we had a pizza party at her apartment.
Happy memories, too - I enjoyed and am grateful for my education, even physics for liberal arts majors, a pass-fail class in which I was able to pay attention because the prof looked like David McCallum, the handsome actor who played Ilya Kuryakin on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
At the beginning of my freshman year, my best friend, Suzy, and I went to a Hillel dance. I met a nice guy, but Suzy didn't. A couple days later, Robert, the guy I met, told me he had a friend for Suzy. Long story short, Suzy met Robert's friend Norm, married him right after we graduated, and have been married for 53 happy years. BTW, Robert and I didn't work out, but Suzy and I are still close friends.
The legacy continues. My daughter graduated from UCLA in 2001 and has made sure her son knows the 8-clap and wants to go to UCLA in 2034.
Melanie Lipman Skikne ʼ85
My dad used to say “when I went to UCLA I could park in front of the math building.”
Michael Slater ’80
When I was at UCLA, I used to like the energy on Bruin Walk in the morning. So many people were headed to class with their backpacks filled with books so they could study in one of the many libraries between and after classes. Swami X was a familiar face on Bruin Walk in my day – what a character he was!
Mitchell Sodikoff ’89
1: I was walking with a friend in '89 along the pathway from Ackerman to Pauley (between West Center and Morgan Center), sharing with him why I felt we lost the Men's Basketball '80 national title game vs. Louisville (Kiki VanDeWeghe missing a layup taking off from the foul line towards the end of the game), when, out of nowhere, a gentle, eavesdropping voice behind us chimes in with, "Well, you do remember that he was double-teamed, right?" It was Coach Wooden.
2: During my freshman year in Spring '85, the on-campus protests against apartheid in South Africa, applying pressure on the UC Regents to divest, culminated in a shanty village being built in the quad outside of Schoenberg Hall (across from Murphy), giving us a flavor of fervent student political action, similar to that of the '60s and '70s.
3: I was in the Marching Band, and within the first weeks of my freshman year, we played for the dedication of the Bruin Bear statue, with award-winning composer Bill Conti leading us in the first-ever public performance of "Mighty Bruins", which he wrote.
Bart Sokolow ’69, M.S. ’70, Ph.D. ’77
Following my undergraduate studies, I pursued and completed my M.S. in energy and kinetics at UCLA Engineering. Subsequently, I obtained my D.Env. (Doctorate in Environmental Science & Engineering) from UCLA. I then embarked on a career as a professor in the UCLA Environmental Science & Engineering Doctoral Program. Eventually, I ventured into the realm of entrepreneurship and established my own company, Environmental Advisors, Inc. I am pleased to share that I have recently published the second edition of my book, titled "How to Avoid Environmental Litigation."
Juli Urrizola-Solaegui ’85
I loved everything about UCLA! It’s a gorgeous campus with wonderful memories. I loved getting coffee in the early hours before going to my classes near Bunch Hall! I loved the student store, where I collected much Bruin memorabilia. One of my favorite things was Westwood when everything was open and not blocked off.
Bruins Rock!
Roberta Stambaugh ’76
When I was at UCLA, I would stop and listen to Swami X for a few minutes as a bit of an escape. I remember thinking he was pretty cool for an old guy.
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Phil Tacata ’99
When I was at UCLA, our football team never lost to USC.
Atom Tayo
That is the great ivory tower I so much love.
David Tenebaum ’75, J.D. ’82
When I was at UCLA, I learned to think critically and question everything. Professors like the late Dr. Malcom Kerr challenged me to rethink and see the Middle East in an entirely different way. His insights have proven to stand the test of time.
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Lesa van Daalen ’79
This picture shows the view I enjoyed walking to classes each day from Hedrick Hall.
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David H. Walter ’65, MBA ’66, Ph.D. ’73
When I was at UCLA in 1961, the last year of semesters before transitioning to quarters, I vaguely remember my registration and tuition fees were in the vicinity of $100, give or take a few dollars! What an amazing deal!
When I was at UCLA, my first freshman semester, September 1961, parking on campus was free. Soon thereafter a fee of 25 cents was instituted — as memory serves. I don’t remember any parking structures, only large paved and unpaved lots (e.g., the entire northeast corner of campus at Sunset and Hilgard was a dirt parking lot).
When I was at UCLA on Nov. 22, 1963, while walking past Murphy Hall toward the old Business School north of Dodd Hall at approximately noon, having been at UCLA for more than two years, I first became aware that campus had a loudspeaker system. As I recall, “May I please have your attention, we regret to report that President John Kennedy has been shot. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day; please leave campus at this time, thank you.”
When I was at UCLA, my undergraduate graduation ceremony on June 11, 1965, was the inaugural event in Pauley Pavilion, even before any basketball games had been played there — a fitting christening for the Wooden era that was about to develop.
When I was at UCLA on Jan. 17, 1969, I was on my way to the old (original) Business School. Walking past the east side of Campbell Hall, I noticed a commotion outside a classroom on the first floor; it appeared that the window was shattered. I soon heard that two men, Black Panthers (students?) had been shot (through the windows?) and killed. I continued on to class. Accounts of this event are readily available on the internet; I did not read them, I was there.
When I was at UCLA as student at the Graduate School of Management, I was on campus one afternoon in the early 1970s, when I noticed a group of dignitaries in the Franklin Murphy Sculpture Garden. They were there to dedicate the donation of a Rodin sculpture by Norton Simon. Among them were (former) Chancellor Franklin Murphy, Norton Simon and Governor Ronald Reagan. A couple of years before I attended a wedding of my friend Paul Simon (no, not that Paul Simon) whose father was Norton’s first cousin. At the wedding I met Norton’s mother. So, wanting to meet this giant of industry, I nervously approached and said something like, “Hello Mr. Simon, I recently met your mother at Paul Simon’s wedding. I’m a student at the Business School and wanted to meet you." He responded, “Oh yes, I heard about the wedding,” and asked a few questions about my studies at GSM (before it was Anderson). Governor Reagan and Chancellor Murphy were standing by. Paul loved the story of my encounter. The Rodin sculpture is at the top of the steps in the Northwest corner of the Sculpture Garden.
When I was at UCLA in the mid-1990s I used to go running at Drake Stadium. On one occasion, I noticed John Wooden there also running laps. Wanting to meet and shake his hand, when he had stopped jogging I nervously walked over and muttered, “Hi Coach Wooden, I was a student here during all of our National Championships and just wanted to meet you.” He shook my hand, asked me a few questions about my studies, and wished me well...or something like that; I had met Coach Wooden, the greatest collegiate basketball coach of all time.
“I love UCLA because just getting there every day led to the best thing in my life.”
- Robert Ewing ’57
Scott Weaver ’96
When I was at UCLA, the Bruin Fitness Center and the step classes were my escape from the law school.
Ellen Bohm Weber ’78
When I was at UCLA, disco and 8-tracks were in. The football team never beat ‘SC, but the Men's Basketball team always won the Pac-8. We registered for classes at Murphy and got our list of classes in the mail…Good times!
Susan Weiner
When I was at UCLA I used to jog round the track in the early mornings before classes. I knew I was doing it wrong though when the boxers who used to train there passed me by as if I were standing still. And they were running backwards.
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Bill Younglove, Ed.D., ’83
When I was at UCLA (1978-1983), I realized a dream come true: amazing research/library facilities; incredible, famed speakers; basketball giants (literally!); and a doctoral advisor/chair second to none (John McNeil).
My main memory is the absolutely stellar professor educators I interacted with over a period of five years…
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Do you have a favorite “When I was at UCLA” memory? Write to us at connectfeedback@alumni.ucla.edu.
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