University Cooperative Housing Association

The front of Hardman-Hansen Hall in 2015

University Cooperative Housing Association (UCHA) is a student housing cooperative in Westwood, Los Angeles serving the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Approximately 400 students live there and in addition to housing UCLA students, UCHA offers housing to students of any college, including the UCLA Extension and Santa Monica College.[1] UCHA operates three buildings, Hardman-Hansen Hall, Essene Hall, and Robison Hall, the latter being a renovated version of the Landfair Apartments and cultural landmark designed by Richard Neutra.[2] Jim Morrison, of The Doors, purportedly lived at UCHA during his time at UCLA.[3] Green Day and Margaret Cho performed at UCHA in the early 1990s.[4][5] In addition to the UCLA campus, Hardman-Hansen and Robison Halls were used as filming locations for the 1982 horror film, The Dorm That Dripped Blood.[6] Many students of China's Lost Generation studying at UCLA reside at UCHA.[7]

History

UCHA was founded as Adams House by eight students in 1936.[8] UCHA incorporated in 1938 and in 1941 purchased the Landfair Apartments, also known as The Glass House, for $45,000.[9] The Glass House was renamed Robison Hall after UCHA member Everett Robison was drafted and killed in action in World War II.[10] In the early days of UCLA, black students were barred from living in Westwood.[11] However, a legal loophole was exploited by Luther Goodwin, Westwood's first black resident, his roommate and future congressman George Brown, Jr. and UCHA's lawyer that allowed Goodwin to reside at UCHA.[12] UCHA was one of the first desegregated student housing communities in the nation and they would later offer refuge for Japanese-American students that faced discrimination during World War II.[13] UCHA purchased the no longer standing Landfair House in 1947 and in 1958 the apartment building that would become Essene Hall, named after UCHA founder John Essene.[14]

In 1998, a UCHA member named Christopher Chessmar was murdered at UCHA in one of three old buildings that comprise its property at the intersection of Landfair Avenue and Ophir Drive. UCHA member Chessmar is alleged to have been a convicted felon with multiple criminal convictions and he is believed to have been involved in criminal activity at the time of his brutal murder. Chessmar was an older student who is believed to have attended Santa Monica College and Loyola Marymount University before he was violently murdered by acquaintances in the Robison building at 10940-10954 Ophir Drive. [15][16]

The current president of UCHA is Simon Han: a second year Biostatistic Ph.D. student at UCLA. The current vice-president is Baoli Yang, a Ph.D. student in East Asian Studies at UCLA.

References

  1. ↑ Rogers, K. (2011, February 1). UCLA’s cooperative housing options offer more than chores as tenants form close social ties living and working together. The Daily Bruin. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://dailybruin.com/2011/02/01/uclas_cooperative_housing_options_offer_more_than_chores_as_tenants_form_close_social_ties_living_an/
  2. ↑ About Us. (2015). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.uchaonline.com/about.html
  3. ↑ Cosgrove, Shannon. "Audio City: _Artists Showcase Talents in Co-op Housing_." The Daily Bruin 25 May 2011, A&E, Music sec. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://dailybruin.com/2011/05/25/audio_city__artists_showcase_talents_in_coop_housing_/>
  4. ↑ Cometbus 54, Green Day in China, and me. (2011, February 17). Giant Robot.
  5. ↑ Pae, M. (1990, May 8). Comedy at the UCLA Coop. Korea Times English Edition. Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.yellowjournal.org/viewarticle.html?a=958
  6. ↑ The Dorm That Dripped Blood. Dir. Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow. Perf. Laura Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Pamela Holland. New Image Releasing, 1982. Film.
  7. ↑ Mann, J. (1990, March 25). CHINA'S LOST GENERATION : After Tian An Men, the Best and Brightest Say They Can't Go Home Again. LA Times, p. 2. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-25/magazine/tm-9_1_chinese-students/2
  8. ↑ Johnson, Willard, and Louise Luckenbill. "COOPERATIVE LIVING ON THE AMERICAN CAMPUS in PRINCIPLE And In Practice at UCLA and OBERLIN." National Student News 1 Dec. 1957: 5. Print.
  9. ↑ Cooperative Housing Association at UCLA. (1950, June 1). CO-OPS ON CAMPUS.
  10. ↑ Cooperative Housing Association at UCLA. (1950, June 1). CO-OPS ON CAMPUS.
  11. ↑ Thompson, D. (2014). As a UCLA Student George Brown Jr. Shared his Room with History. Cooperative Housing Bulletin, 1, 4-5.
  12. ↑ Thompson, D. (2014). As a UCLA Student George Brown Jr. Shared his Room with History. Cooperative Housing Bulletin, 1, 4-5.
  13. ↑ Thompson, D. (2014). As a UCLA Student George Brown Jr. Shared his Room with History. Cooperative Housing Bulletin, 1, 4-5.
  14. ↑ Los Angeles: Student Housing. (2004, June 18). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/uchistory/general_history/campuses/ucla/housing.html
  15. ↑ http://dailybruin.com/1998/10/26/lapd-investigation-under-way-a/
  16. ↑ http://dailybruin.com/1998/11/03/police-charge-suspects-with-mu/
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