University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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Close up of sectional construction on Royce Hall McCOLLISTER LEADS IN THE ALMA MaTER SONG AT THE DEDICATION EXERCISES FOR THE WeSTWOOD BRIDGE ifi lipi t . SypHh... . : ' }£L , J- ' 8 ' P ' Ski Li liiN siKi cture of the Bridge before it was faced WITH brick because its juxtaposition to Los Angeles simplified housing and employment problems, and because its splendid topo- graphy and climate were compelling arguments in its favor. Since the Regents had expressly stat ' ed that any sites offered were to be de- void of financial entanglements, the pre ponents of the Westwood territory were confronted with the task of rais- ing approximately $1,319,000 in order that the 383 acre site might be present ' ed gratuitously to the State of Califor ' nia. Plans were formulated by James R. Martin, secretary of the Committee of Seventeen, with the result that Los An- geles raised $700,000, Santa Monica $120,000, Beverly Hills $100,000, and Venice $50,000. Students of the Uni- versity participated in all four cam- paigns, addressing department store em- ployees and improvement associations, distributing windshield stickers, litera- ture, and posters, and holding a gigantic pajamerino on the Westwood site on the eve of the Los Angeles election. The results in the four elections were over- whelmingly in favor of the University bonds, for the people of the southland, responding to the student appeal, had fulfilled their promise to the Regents to finance their share of the gift of West- wood. The acquisition of the new home of the University brought additonal prob- lems, for funds were needed to finance the building program, and unless the state legislature passed the necessary ap- propriations, none would be available. Activity was centered, therefore, on the Proposition 10 campaign, which would grant to the Los Angeles division of the University $3,000,000 for structural purposes. That the students of the Uni- versity were not above doing manual labor to obtain Westwood was evi- denced when the A. S. U. C. staged a Labor Day on October 9, 1926, to clean the new grounds and open the Proposi- [14

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a product due to a comhination of forces, setting steadily from the first toward one great issue. And the same steady growth which huilt from the pri- vate College of California located at Oakland in the eighteen-fifties the mag- nificent Berkeley of today, and which changed the Los Angeles State Normal School into a Southern Branch and then into a sister-university, made the selection of a new site in the southland a necessity. And the selection of West- wood to be that site was the result of months of examination of proposed lo- cations and hours of discussion as to the relative merits of possible situations. Appointment of a committee of seventeen citi2,ens who were closely as- sociated with progressive and educa- tional movements in the southland was the first step taken by President William Wallace Campbell of the University up- on the unanimous decision of the Re- gents that the Vermont site was inade- quate to meet the needs of the great institution of higher education into which the University of California at Los Angeles will develop in the near fu- ture. Seventeen locations were submitted for the consideration of the committee immediately after its organisation had been effected. A careful study of every site offered and a personal inspection of the majority of them resulted in the recommendation of the Committee of Seventeen that the so-called ' Beverly Site ' was best suited for the permanent home of the University of California at Los Angeles. The final decision was rendered by the Board of Regents on March 21, 1925. After an extensive surx ' ey of all the preferred sites and of the opportunities and advantages which each included in its proposal, the Board selected the recommended Westwood location by a practical unanimity, be- cause they believed it to be the trend of the population growth of Los Angeles, Activity on the campus prior to construction Steam shovel at work on bridge site Teams grading University Drive

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tion 10 campaign formally. Through ' out the month of October and until No- vember 2, the chief topic of campus in- tcrcst was the bond drive and every stU ' dent iiided in advertising the issue, upon which the Westwood of the immediate future rested. No effort was spared by the students and by the entire administrative force to insure a favorable decision. Thirtyfive thousand windshield stickers were dis- tributed, Proposition 10 pompoms were made and sold at football games, 10,000 letters were written by women students to friends in California, a score of or- ganizations were addressed, radio pro- grams were broadcast, dodgers were dis- tributed, and polls were patrolled on election day. Commenting on the campaign, the Los Angeles Examiner declared that the decision in favor of the bond issue will be historic, for it will be the launch- ing of a University building program second to none. It was: for the bonds passed by an easy two to one majority, and the visionary Westwood of our dreams became the practical Westwood of our immediate future. Immediately upon the bond victory, the Board of Regents authorized the construction of four buildings: the Uni- versity library, the auditorium and classroom structure, which was later designated as Royce Hall, and two science buildings. In order that construc- tion might be facilitated, work began promptly upon an entrance bridge. And for the past year and one-half, the erec- tion of our University which will rise as a mecca for seekers of knowledge of the entire west has gne on steadily in order that the crowded conditions of the Vermont grounds might be reme- died as soon as possible by the evacua- tion of the College of Letters and Science. And in the early days of Feb- ruary, 1929, the Westwood home of The first scaffolding is built for the Bridge ■l i ' ■ ' ? - -: r i .-- p i COXCRLTL CONSTRUCTION . L. RS CO.MTLLTIU.N ' The BkiiM.i i i inished 15]