When I Was at UCLA - June 2023
W
e asked Bruins to share a UCLA experience and the responses were filled with humor, pride, awe, gratitude and nostalgia. The stories are being compiled so they can be shared and viewed by this alumni community. Here are a few of our favorites from May 2023.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.
- Sean Anglon ʼ96
When I was at UCLA, Royce Hall was closed after the Northridge quake, I watched our men's basketball team arrive at LAX with the National Championship trophy and we beat ‘SC in football the entire time I was a student.
- Michelle Fisher May ʼ95
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.
- Alan Chan ʼ89, M.D. ʼ94
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 [like] you were in a different place altogether.
- Andrew Lueder ʼ91
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 [member] 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.
- Maria Dungo ʼ90
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.
- David Tenenbaum ʼ75, J.D. ʼ82
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!
- Ellen Bohm Weber ʼ78
When I was at UCLA they had a Playgirl centerfold as a chemistry TA.
- Libby Anne Russler ʼ76
When I was at UCLA, 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!
- Henderson Cooper ʼ73
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.
- Stan Lieberson ʼ69
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 a person. I won’t ever forget that.
- Ann Kelsey, M.L.S. ʼ69
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.
- Chelle Brown ʼ62
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 pool 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.
- Robert Ewing ʼ57
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.
- Bob Schneider ʼ56
If you have a story to share, finish the sentence “When I was at UCLA…” and submit it to connectfeedback@alumni.ucla.edu.
When I Was at UCLA Articles
Recent Articles
Our Proud Partners
