By David King
Daily Bruin Contributor
When class of 1929 alumna Goldie Moss returns to UCLA for her Pioneer Bruin reunions, she sees a campus and student body very different from the one she left 70 years ago.
“I think the campus is so fantastic ... every time I go there, there’s a new building,” Moss said. “When you think of everything that’s happened since the beginning (of UCLA), it’s incredible.”
Moss, like most UCLA alumni, has witnessed many campus transformations and holds strong opinions of today’s campus and the students who populate it.
One of the major changes early alumni experienced was the transition from UCLA’s original campus on Vermont Avenue to its current Westwood campus.
Moss remembers taking street cars around Los Angeles to classes at the Vermont Avenue “Southern Branch” campus.
“Many people didn’t have cars – it’s very different now,” Moss said. “Life was kind of simple back then.”
As another alumna who attended the Vermont Avenue campus, Ethel Coplen remembered dancing at Los Angeles clubs where she was employed and then traveling on the street car to attend 8 a.m. classes every day.
Although she got little sleep between work and school, Coplen said she enjoyed her fast-paced life.
“I never knew what it was like to be tired,” she said.
After dancing at the Hollywood Bowl and doubling for actors in films, Coplen left school to tour Canada in 1926, but eventually returned to UCLA’s Westwood campus.
She added that though the campus was new, it was not free of problems.
“We used to walk through mud sometimes up to our knees to get to our classes in Royce,” she said.
For Leon Berger, a 1932 economics graduate, the fondest memories were the concerts held on campus.
According to Berger, free organ concerts were frequently given in Royce Hall during lunch breaks. He recalled students “brown-bagging” their lunches and taking afternoon naps to the sounds of organ music.
Although Berger said he wasn’t involved in campus student groups or societies, he was an avid sports fan, attending almost all Bruin athletic events.
“I went to a lot of games that are famous now,” said Berger, who was at the infamous Rose Bowl football game when Roy “Wrong Way” Reagles nearly scored a touchdown for his Bruin opponents.
“Everyone was taken aback when he was going the wrong way,” Berger said. “Now that was something.”
Although he graduated in 1932, Berger still follows UCLA basketball – “Win or lose,” he said. He believes, however, that the John Wooden era will never be repeated.
“He was really something,” Berger said, referring to Wooden. “We were really proud of the teams that he put out.”
Berger also expressed his disappointment that college players now tend to leave school early to play professionally.
“Most people think that college sport is just a training camp for the pros now,” Berger said. “I for one don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Nonetheless, he remains a loyal Bruin fan, despite attending USC’s law school.
“My loyalties have always been with UCLA, my undergraduate school,” Berger said.
Another obvious change that surprises alumni has been the school’s growth. The UCLA of the 1930s had a population of about 5,000 students. Most people knew each other, Berger claimed.
“There was a lot of intimate contact and I knew all my professors by name,” he said.
Moss said the interaction she had with faculty spurred her to pursue knowledge beyond UCLA by traveling around the world throughout her life.
“I had plenty of professors who inspired me,” Moss said. “You can learn a lot from them – you just have to go and get it.”
She remembers meaningful talks with professors between classes, and attributes the conversation to the the long walkways to and from buildings.
Fellow alumnus Harry Zide concurred, describing the campus as much more rural, with only a handful of buildings surrounded by spacious areas of trees and grass.
“There’s no comparison between the two,” Zide said. “It’s like comparing a village to a city.”
Zide, who graduated in 1930, doubts the university – with a student population around 35,000 – can maintain the close professor-student relationships it once had.
Despite the drawbacks of a large school, alumni see a major benefit in UCLA’s vibrant ethnic diversity, which differs completely from the school’s predominantly white student body of the 1930s.
“It’s definitely more diverse today, which provides a richer experience,” Moss said.
Berger added that although the end of affirmative action in UC admissions due to Proposition 209 bothers him, he believes the school will be able to overcome the obstacle.
“I’m a little more optimistic than some, and I don’t think the abolition of affirmative action will have that great of effect,” Berger said.
“I just hope that (affirmative action) remains in the hearts of the admissions people, if not in the law books themselves,” he added.
But Zide said affirmative action or race-based admission policies should never replace a strong work ethic.
“I think that if a person wants to get an education, he’ll work hard, just like we did in our days,” Zide said.
Many alumni also applaud UCLA for staying ahead of its time, especially in regards to research.
“I’m especially interested in the teaching and research, which I consider the best in the nation,” said Zide, an active supporter of various academic programs.
“Overall, it’s a great institution,” he said. “All we need is more parking.”