While students and administrators celebrate the plans to erect graduate housing on Weyburn and Veteran, some neighbors to the project are a bit more wary.
The director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery is worried about the changes the additional buildings will bring to the quiet neighborhood via increased foot traffic through the cemetery, specifically on Constitutional Avenue, the main walkway that divides the cemetery in half.
“I have concerns about the additional traffic on Constitutional Avenue. We have funerals here and I want to promote the right respect for this national shrine,” said William Livingston, director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
The cemetery, built in 1889, was originally a burial plot for residents of the National Home of Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.
“When Abe Lincoln started the national cemetery system, he didn’t think of the problems of cities infringing on national shrines. If there wasn’t a cemetery here, if the people buried here hadn’t given their lives for the country, there might not even be a UCLA,” said Livingston.
Students who often walk on Constitution Avenue have acknowledged the reverence that should come with the national cemetery.
“I always try to respect these soldiers when I pass through. After all they’ve done for this country, they at least deserve that,” said John Lee, a third-year biology student, who walks through the cemetery to get to campus.
Others agree that those buried in the cemetery deserve consideration, but not only because they were soldiers.
“I think students should definitely show respect for the people buried here, not just because they were soldiers but because they were human. I know I’d want people to respect the place I’m buried in when I die, regardless of whether I died while in military service or not,” said fourth-year English student, Jennifer Collen.
Livingston is not overly concerned about the students who currently pass through the cemetery. On the contrary, he recognizes the respect they have shown towards the cemetery throughout the past four years during which he has served as the director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
“Students only walk through the cemetery on Constitution Avenue, and that’s okay. I just want them to continue to respect it the way they have in the years past,” Livingston said.
He suggested that a way to portray this reverence for the deceased is to get off one’s bicycle and walk through the cemetery while there is a burial ceremony taking place.
“I want them to understand that when they cut through the cemetery, they need to show respect if there’s a burial. How would you feel if you were burying your mom or dad, and students were just riding through the cemetery on their bicycles?” Livingston said.
Rather than worrying about the construction and its noise, Livingston is focusing more upon what will happen once the area is inhabited.
“We want to make sure that the integrity and the serenity of the cemetery is preserved,” Livingston said.
Livingston wants to prevent such instances from occurring in the future, rather than waiting for them to happen before doing something about it.
“These are things that I have to address because these are things that I’m responsible for. We’re a part of the same community. I want to survive with UCLA,” Livingston said.
Livingston briefly spoke about these issues with Director of Housing Michael Foraker, who referred him to another department.
Angela Marciano, the associate director of housing, said that she did not know detailed information about this issue. Foraker was unavailable for comment.