The University Cooperative Housing Association (UCHA) is a

student housing cooperative A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for student members. Members live in alternative cooperative housing that they personally own and maintain. These houses are designed to lower housing cos ...

Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...

near the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

(UCLA) campus. Able to house and feed over 400 members, the UCHA primarily offers housing to UCLA students, but welcomes members from any institution. The UCHA operates three buildings: Hardman-Hansen Hall (HHH or "Triple H"), Essene Hall, and Robison Hall.

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

purportedly lived at the UCHA during his time at UCLA. Alongside the UCLA campus, Hardman-Hansen and Robison Halls were used as filming locations for the 1982 horror film, '' The Dorm That Dripped Blood''. Many students of China's Lost Generation studying at UCLA resided at the UCHA.

History

The UCHA was originally founded as Adams House by eight students in 1936, and was incorporated in 1938 as the University Cooperative Housing Association. In 1941, the UCHA purchased for $45,000 the Landfair Apartments (also known as the Glass House), which was designed by

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. H ...

and was designated in 1987 as a historic-cultural monument in Los Angeles. The Landfair Apartments was renamed Robison Hall after UCHA member Everett Robison, who was drafted and killed in action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Around the time of the UCHA's inception, black students were barred from living in Westwood, but, by exploiting a legal loophole,

George Brown, Jr. George Edward Brown Jr. (March 6, 1920 – July 15, 1999) was an American Democratic politician from California. He represented suburban portions of Los Angeles County in the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971 and parts of t ...

, a founding member of the Co-op, was able to welcome Luther Goodwin into the UCHA as his roommate and as Westwood's first black resident. In addition to being one of the first desegregated student housing communities in the nation, the UCHA would later offer refuge for Japanese-American students that faced discrimination during World War II. The UCHA purchased the Landfair House in 1947, which would be replaced by Hardman-Hansen Hall, and in 1958 an apartment building next-door that would become Essene Hall, named after UCHA founder John Essene.Los Angeles: Student Housing. (2004, June 18). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/uchistory/general_history/campuses/ucla/housing.html

Notable alumni

Rafer Johnson Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlon, decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan Amer ...

- American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic Decathlon gold medalist, Team USA's Flag Bearer. Acting appearances included the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989).

References

{{Reflist University of California, Los Angeles Student housing cooperatives in the United States