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Ah, sweet Hershey

By Daily Bruin Staff

Feb. 9, 1998 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 10, 1998

Ah, sweet

Hershey

DORMITORY The current crop of students who call UCLA’s first
dorm home are possibly the last Hershey Hall will ever see

By Marco Ponce Contreras

Daily Bruin Contributor

Situated on the Eastward outreaches along Hilgard Avenue, one of
UCLA’s oldest and most historic landmarks stands in a state of
uncertainty.

Aside from all its grandeur and antiquity, nothing will
alleviate the apprehension besieging the residents of Mira Hershey
Hall. There’s a conscious feeling that more than a place to live
would be lost if the dormitory were to close its doors.

Due to administrative demands, the students of Hershey Hall will
have to find somewhere else to live at the end of the school year
when the dormitory closes, after more than six decades, to serve as
housing for administrative personnel while Haines Hall undergoes
renovation.

Some say it would cost too much to renovate Hershey Hall, while
others say money is not or should not be an issue.

On any given day, residents can find Robert Murrel Stevenson,
professor of music, strolling Hershey’s halls. Stevenson, who has a
long list of accomplishments, has been teaching music at UCLA for
49 years.

He is one of many interesting people who call Hershey home.
Although he resides in the faculty building, Hershey is where he
visits to pass the time.

If the dormitory closes as planned, Professor Stevenson will
have to draw upon memories to keep things in perspective.

"I think it is the saddest thing that I could possibly imagine,"
Stevenson replies in response to Hershey’s closure. With an
unyielding and stern look, he continues, "I weep, but I can do
nothing."

One of Stevenson’s fond memories of Hershey Hall dates back to
the fall of last year during a piano recital entitled, "Doc’s
Holiday Program." Performed on the original Steinway piano donated
by the woman whom the dormitory was named in honor of, Mira
Hershey, the residents were treated to a magnificent rendition of
piano masterpieces of Chopin and Liszt, conducted by Stevenson.

With a touch of bittersweet, concluding optimism, Stevenson
comments, "We’re coming to the end of all this with the best
pianist, the best students we’ve ever had."

As one takes a stroll through Hershey’s hallowed halls, an
atmosphere of Italian Renaissance exudes from the pores of its
decor. The piano lounge is surrounded in tall narrow windows and
long drapes. Its walls are adorned in oil paintings of flowers and
vases and perhaps what appears to be a quaint Italian village.

Above the masonry fireplace hangs an 1849 painting of a
five-year-old girl in a light blue dress. The Steinway piano, this
painting and turn-of-the-century black-and-white photographs in a
cabinet case in the lobby are the only remaining artifacts of a
woman with a dream for female students.

The idea of UCLA’s first dormitory originated in 1929 with a
visit from attorney W. B. Mathews to then Regent of the University
of California, Edward A. Dickerson. It was Mathew’s inquiry into an
architectural photograph of the future plans of UCLA hanging above
the Regent’s desk that led to his mentioning a well-known client
who would be interested in helping.

The significance of the meeting materialized when the contents
of Miss Almira Parker Hershey’s will were made known upon her death
in 1930. In it she bequeathed $300,000 for the construction of a
women’s dormitory and $100,000 in loan fund for students (men or
women) in need of financial assistance.

Construction commenced on March, 1931, on a building to house
131 students. When completed, the hall possessed richness in
Mediterranean architecture, reminiscent of Spanish colonial
days.

To this day areas of the hall are a favorite for reflection and
relaxation for the residents.

Miss Mira Hershey was born in 1844 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
where her uncle, Milton S. Hershey, began his chocolate empire.
Miss Hershey attended Pennsylvania Female College.

She enjoyed passing the time with painting in watercolor and
oils, speaking in German and French and traveling – to Europe, in
particular.

During her lifetime, Miss Hershey anonymously donated large sums
of money inherited from her father, Benjamin Hershey, a successful
lumberman and banker. In time she was able to increase her
inheritance to a sizeable amount. In 1922, she became owner of the
famous Hollywood Hotel, a portion of which was eventually developed
into Hollywood Park.

Acts of generosity were not uncommon for this philanthropist.
Miss Hershey founded the Good Hope Hospital for the benefit of
those who were unable to pay for medical expenses and donated $1.8
million to the Good Samaritan Hospital. Other worthy donations were
the Mckinley Home for Boys and the Children’s Hospital Society of
Los Angeles.

The momentous day was October 19, 1931. Tuesday morning classes
were shortened to commemorate the unveiling of UCLA’s first
dormitory.

Clothed in long, white, formal dresses, the female residents of
Hershey Hall watched attentively from a balcony overlooking the
Eastward entrance as President Robert Gordon Sproul presided over
the ceremony. Hundreds of students, staff and Hilgard neighborhood
residents scattered about Hilgard Avenue and lawns of Sorority Row,
listening to President Sproul.

"I welcome with delight this hall to the campus. This will prove
to be a great day to a great University. The glory goes to Miss
Hershey." A bronze tablet at the main entrance marks the occasion
in memory of Miss Hershey.

The women of Hershey Hall formed a tight-knit group,
participating in various social activities during the early
decades. Some of the festivities which added a familial atmosphere
to the Hall were a senior ditch day, a senior breakfast and
birthday dinners for the residents.

To keep the social juices flowing, a semi-annual formal, floor
parties, dances and participation in Spring Sing and Homecoming
were organized.

Residents had to adhere to strict rules and policies. The women
residents had to behave in a decent and ladylike manner. When
entering into the cafeteria, no curlers, long coats or scarves were
allowed.

Quiet hours were from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., Sunday through Thursday,
and 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Most importantly, no
men were allowed on the floors except at designated times.

Male visitors were only allowed into the building on visitation
hours or by special requests of the residents. The only such time a
male was allowed to visit a lady friend was during Open House on
Sundays from 1p.m. to 5p.m.; otherwise special permission would
have to come from the Resident Advisor.

Specific instructions were given if ever a male happened to step
foot in the hall. The resident was advised to yell, "Man on the
floor!" to forewarn any unsuspecting women.

In a strange turn of events, Hershey Hall became home for three
men for a short, brief time. The Daily Bruin reported in 1960 that
three undergraduates were moved to Hershey after they were
unceremoniously removed from their rooms from Dykstra Hall to make
room for Bruin football players.

For four long days the young men reserved themselves to playing
cards in their rooms while rarely catching a glimpse of a woman.
The men expressed they were pretty disgruntled about the whole
affair.

Hershey Hall enforced a strict policy against male intruders
until the hall became a coed dormitory in 1969. On one occasion, a
male was found after hours in one room hiding underneath a bed. The
resident of the room was required to write a 1,000-word essay on
the "Responsibilities as a human being to Self, Community, and the
Living Group."

Two other women involved had to write 500 – word essays and were
put on hall probation for the quarter. The essays were posted on
the hall bulletin board and the man was considered a permanent
"persona non grata" (unwelcome person) in the UCLA residence
halls.

For many years the women of Hershey Hall were under lock and
key, which is what probably led to the hall being nicknamed the
"nunnery," or "convent."

The women had to abide by a strict curfew. Women had to be in
their rooms by midnight on school nights and 2 a.m. on Fridays and
Saturdays. If they were not, they were subject to judicial action,
such as restriction to the dormitory for one evening if it happened
again.

In the 1963 UCLA Alumni Magazine, Dean of Women, Dr. Nola Stark
Cavette, reported there were those who believed the curfew was
absurd and unnecessary. Male students held the opinion that the
women were not girls, but adults.

Since all residents at Hershey Hall were at least 21 years of
age, they could decide what time to come home if to come home at
all. They viewed the curfew as belonging to the "Dark Ages."

A fierce battle was staged in 1965 over making Hershey Hall a
coed graduate dormitory.

Fifty coeds picketed the office of the Dean of Students, Byron
H. Atkinson, while he spoke with administrators over the future of
Hershey Hall as a women’s dormitory.

Some of the slogans read, "We love men but not for breakfast,"
"Mira is here in spirit," and "Don’t make our nunnery a brewery."
The latter was referring to the assumption that liquor regulations
would be lifted if men were allowed to reside in the dormitory.

Meanwhile, back at Hershey Hall, male voices could be heard
expressing their own sentiments. Graduate males from Hedrick Hall
picketed outside the dormitory hurling insults to the women and
vice versa.

"Cohabitation, if you haven’t tried it, don’t knock it," the men
shouted. A female voice replied from within, "What’s wrong? Can’t
you guys get dates anywhere else?"

"We don’t want dates, we want your building," the men answered
back. The combatants dispersed shortly afterwards when the men
offered to take the women to a local pub for a few drinks. Some
residents accepted.

In the fall of 1969, Mira Hershey Hall finally became a graduate
coeducational dormitory. Coinciding with the resident’s age limit
to be at least 21 years of age, liquor regulations were lessened
and, for the first time, visiting regulations were abolished.

It’s reputation as an international dormitory may have started
in 1960 with an experiment in serving foreign meals. To foster
interest and improve women’s worldly awareness, one foreign meal
was prepared with appropriate entertainment once a month. To this
day, exquisite meals are prepared during events such as Mardi Gras,
Thanksgiving and Cinco de Mayo.

It may be difficult to comprehend that Hershey Hall has stood
undisturbed for 67 years on the bordering slopes of Hilgard
Avenue.

Standing next to the Botanical Gardens, the dormitory possesses
a unique tranquility rarely seen anywhere else on campus.

As the denizens of Hershey Hall live out their stay for the
final school year, one question of these residents remains
unanswered. Many wonder if the administration is addressing the
needs of the students or if it is more concerned with saving money
by leveling UCLA’s first dormitory sometime in the future.

JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

Hershey Hall as seen in its fullest splendor in late 1997,
housing its final group of residents.

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