News!   An Update on our 50th Anniversary Event

Faculty Center's 50th Anniversary Dinner
Honoring Charles E. Young


On October 21 the Faculty Center continued the celebration of its 50th Anniversary with a banquet in honor of UCLA Chancellor Emeritus Charles E. Young. During his 29 years as Chancellor, Chuck Young was the Faculty Center’s unwavering supporter. Between 1968 and 1997 our building went through several major expansions and upgrades (air conditioning) – all facilitated by the financial and moral support of Chuck Young.

The evening began with members and their guests greeting each other as well as Chuck and his wife Judy at a cocktail party on the patio. There were a number of enlarged photographs on easels from the history of the building and Chuck Young’s tenure at UCLA. The 298 guests adjoined to the main dining room for a wonderful banquet prepared by Manager Ali Tabrizi and his staff. Ron Mellor, President of the Board of Governors, briefly sketched the history of the Faculty Center, and he acknowledged that the Center is here today due to the work of many groups over the last five decades. The past presidents of the Faculty Center, the Women’s Faculty Club, the Emeriti Association, and the Association of Academic Women all stood to accept our collective thanks.

During the banquet two large screens displayed a collection of images of the Center’s history, from the tea party opening (in the days before our liquor license) in February 1959 through visits by Shimon Peres, Charlton Heston, and Mary Martin to the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake. Click here to view the slide show.

The highlight of the evening was Chancellor Young’s presentation, “From Bruinville to Bunker Hill.” With his customary wit and candor he recalled his departure from UCLA as well as what he calls his second, third, and fourth careers. First he went to the University of Florida as interim president which turned into a four year term as President. His view of Florida politicians is as skeptical it is of the California variety. He then directed the educational foundation of the emirate of Qatar and, after that third retirement, he described his recruitment by Eli Broad to become director of MOCA.

It was particularly touching for us to hear Dr. Young talk about the importance of the Faculty Center to the intellectual and social life of UCLA. He was honored by the audience with a standing ovation.

NEWS- September 2009

Policy for Display of Artwork in the Faculty Center
The Faculty Center Board of Governors recognizes that FCA Members may wish to offer their personal artwork for display in the Faculty Center for the enjoyment of other Members and guests.  The following policy statement provides guidelines for consideration of artwork loaned to the FCA. 

Guidelines:

1)       All requests to display artwork in the Faculty Center must be submitted in writing to the Faculty Center General Manager.  A complete submission must include a picture of the proposed artwork, a description of duration of time the work is being loaned for display, a statement that the owner of the artwork is willing to sign a release of liability for the Faculty Center Association to display the artwork, and willingness to abide by the decisions of the Faculty Center Board of Governors as to the location and duration of the display, if accepted.

2)       The Faculty Center General Manager will forward complete applications for review by the FCA Art Committee

3)       The FCA Art Committee will consist of the President and President Elect of the FCA. In the absence of the President or President-Elect, their individual designee may perform the duties with full authority of the absent member of the FCA Art Committee.  The designee must be a member of the Executive Committee.    

4)       All activity of the FCA Art Committee, including receipt of applications and actions taken, will be reported to the Board of Governors at the next scheduled meeting of the Board.  

5)       In the event that the FCA Art Committee cannot reach agreement on the disposition of an application, or feel additional input is needed before making a decision, they may bring the request to the full Board of Governors at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.  A simple majority of the Board Members present will determine the acceptance or rejection of the application.

The Board of Governors may choose to review the decision of the FCA Art Committee regarding any application.

NEWS- May 2009

50th Anniversary Events
The UCLA Faculty Center moved into its building in February, 1959, and during the coming year we will be celebrating our fiftieth anniversary.  The Board of Governors will sponsor a series of intellectual and social events to introduce, and reintroduce, many aspects of UCLA to our members.  We will begin our celebration at 5 pm on Monday, May 11, 2009 when Chancellor Gene Block will speak to us.  His presentation will be in two parts, first he will, as Chancellor, convey his vision for UCLA, and this talk is to be followed be a presentation on his Professorial activities with an emphasis on his scientific research.  A question and answer session will follow.  The Board of Governors invites the members of the Club to a festive anniversary reception in honor of Chancellor and Mrs. Block.

The second event will be a presentation by J. Nicholas Entrikin, Vice-Provost and Director of the UCLA International Institute, on Thursday June 11, at 4 pm.  Nick Entrikin will speak on "UCLA as a Global University."  In recent years the scope of UCLA's international presence has greatly expanded in a variety of realms: research, student and faculty exchanges, co-operative programs, and development.  While we all know of some of these initiatives, the Vice-Provost will weave together the many threads of UCLA as a global university.  Discussion will be followed by a reception.  Those who are interested might wish to make reservations for our usual Thursday night dinner that evening.

NEWS- April 2009

A Special Point of Interest, From Board of Governors President, Prof. John Edmond
Footnote # 1 of my message in the February Newsletter explaining that the Faculty Women's Club was called at some point a "Faculty Wives Club" is not correct.  On reading the historical highlights on the FWC’s website http://uclafwc.bol.ucla.edu there is a record of the Presidents from the time this women’s group was founded in 1918.   One statement on political action indicates “The Faculty Women's Club (FWC) originated as a political action group. In 1918 there were moves afoot to create a four-year college in Southern California. Focusing on women's groups in the State, women of the faculty of the Los Angeles Normal School formed a Faculty Women's Club in order to help gather support for the proposed four-year college. In 1919 the Normal School became the Southern Branch of the University of California. Once the political objective was achieved, the FWC met to consider the club's future. By the spring of 1920 the first constitution and purpose of the FWC of the Southern Branch of the University of California had been drafted.”  Thus, it seems that the Faculty Women's Club started off with that very name and originally included only women of the faculty of the Normal School; the fore-runner to UCLA.  Later, wives of male faculty were included in the club. The club has never had a name other than "Faculty Women's Club.”

Some years ago the Constitution of the FWC was amended to no longer limit membership to women. Today, the By-Laws include as eligible for membership in the FWC "members of the staff of UCLA and spouses of such members, who are directly connected with the academic aspects of the University, irrespective of salary" and also "members of professional and administrative staffs, and spouses of such members, whose classification and salary rate are at or above that of Instructor.”

It is important to appreciate that the FWC has a representative on the Board of Governors of the Faculty Center Association because the FWC is designated a founding organization.  Indeed it is the only current organization that predates the founding of our Faculty Center.  This year we are pleased to have Joanne Knopoff representing the FWC. This is a return tour of service for Joanne on the Board.  Her knowledge and experience are a bonus for newcomers to service to the Faculty Center, like myself.  At our January meeting of the Board Joanne announced that the Executive Board of the UCLA Faculty Women’s Club at its meeting on December 2nd 2008 “passed a motion asking Joanne to convey to the Faculty Center Board that the FWC Board will be pleased to support the Faculty Center Board in its commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Faculty Center and will do what it can to assist.”  The Board of Governors of the Faculty Association thanked the FWC for this motion of support.  It is greatly appreciated.

Joanne’s recent input to me about the early years of the FWC and her contributions as FWC representative provided the incentive for me to report briefly on the origin and role of the FWC, and to encourage anyone interested to visit their website and read about their many activities. Check out their sections on “Calendar” and on “Special Interests.”


NEWS- March 2009

A Message from Board of Governors President -Prof. John Edmond
This year, the UCLA Faculty Center has reached a significant milestone in its evolution as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in our present building.  Fifty years ago, on February 9th 1959, the construction of the initial building was completed and the Faculty organization assumed control of the completed Faculty Club on that date.  Throughout 2009 the Faculty Center plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our tenure at this location.   

The efforts to secure our faculty center began from the very beginning of the Westwood campus, and a “Faculty Room” was assigned in newly completed Kerkhoff Hall in 1931.  Over the following decades there were many proposals for a permanent facility – even a suggestion that the Faculty Center be located at the Clark estate in West Adams - before 1959 when the Board of Directors of the Faculty Men’s Club petitioned UC President Robert Sproul to seek funding from the Regents to complement funding provided by faculty for the construction of a facility.  An interesting history of effort on the part of many individuals and three organizations (1) followed in the ensuing years. Progress was made in 1949 when President Sproul in a letter to the Regents discussed the question “are the Regents justified in using University funds to help finance faculty centers?”  The substance of the letter contained his perspective on the question he had posed.  His treatise on the Value of Faculty Centers to the University is truly inspiring (2) and provides a standard to which our faculty center strives to uphold into the 21st Century:

 “as a place where members of a large faculty may assemble and become known to each other, exchange knowledge, and merge their special interests into the cause of the University as a whole, a faculty center is vital to the development of institutional esprit.”

Fortunately, the Regents were sympathetic to the request and throughout the 1950s progress was slowly made in moving the venture forward. In the early 1950’s a group of faculty members began collecting donations from individual faculty and outside donors to provide the seed money for the construction of the UCLA Faculty center, by augmenting the contribution approved by the Regents.  Everyone involved in these early days leading up to the day the Faculty Center opened its doors for business in 1959 and afterwards worked tirelessly with determination, persistence and with an unshakeable vision for accomplishment to this end.

Fortunately, the Faculty Center Facility is situated centrally to most of the Campus.  The initial building was much smaller (3) than it is today and there is more history of perseverance and vision involved over the ensuing years to develop what the Center is today; a building that covers more than 30,000 square feet where the main feature is a principal dining room that can seat 400 guests. There are 12 other meeting and dining rooms that can accommodate groups of 8 to 200 guests.  Many of the rooms have access to an outdoor patio. It has been estimated that in excess of 250,000 guests visit the Center annually to participate in the very many functions and events held within its domain.

Historically, the Faculty Center has always played an important role in enhancing conviviality and collegiality amongst the diverse and dispersed faculty and administrators on the UCLA campus.  It does this by serving as a centrally located meeting point to promote the intellectual vibrancy and interchange of ideas at our excellent University.  It is these nuances of the center that the members who frequent its premises regularly, cherish and admire.  This notice is intended to alert our members that a celebration of our 50th Anniversary is being planned at this time. The planners led by the President-elect, Professor Ron Mellor (History), are in the initial stages of developing a program centered at the Faculty Center that will feature events throughout 2009.  The spirit of the answer by a UC President (2) to his question to the Regents on why there is value to a Faculty Center on Campus is a sound model on which to develop an inspired program.  Expect notices on events as they come to fruition.  Newer Faculty Center members, myself included, have no first hand knowledge of the early years of our Center.  I would be pleased to hear from members who have first hand knowledge of any of the early events.  Most interesting would be photographs of the newly built 1959 facility.

Our predecessors have worked for over sixty years to create, expand, and preserve the Faculty Center.  Over the last 20 years we have received limited resources from the University and we have struggled with issues like maintenance of an aging facility, labor costs, expansion, and the ever changing environmental and workplace regulations.  But we have successfully survived a half-century as a private club, and we hope to use the 50th anniversary celebration to think about how we can be a better Faculty Center for UCLA Faculty and staff over the next fifty years.

 ________________________________________________________________________________

(1)  The Faculty Men’s Club, the Faculty Wives’ Club-now the Faculty Women’s Club and the Association of Academic Women.  Later the UCLA Emeriti Association emerged as a founding organization to take account of the Faculty Men’s Club and the Association of Academic Women when they ceased to exist as separate organizations.

(2)  In his letter of May 6, 1949, to The Regents President Sproul discussed the following question:

“Are The Regents justified in using University funds to help finance faculty centers?”

President Sproul’s letter then continued with his perspective on the question he had posed:

“By providing a place where members of a large faculty may assemble and become known to each other, exchange knowledge, and merge their special interests into the cause of the University as a whole, a faculty center is vital to the development of institutional esprit.  Moreover, it actually provides many of the facilities for day to day administration.  Private dining rooms are used for the conduct of the business of committees both of the Academic Senate and of the Administration.  Special dining and residence facilities provide for the entertainment of guests of the University.”

“The various activities of the club center around convenient, congenial dining facilities, where the tables provide special opportunities for the free discussion of University academic problems.  As a result, decisions and, if necessary, compromises are reached more readily than if deliberation were conducted in a more formal atmosphere.  A faculty’s intelligent understanding of broad University problems can be traced to these informal discussions.  Effective democratic administration, in fact, requires such centers.”

The Regents adopted President Sproul’s recommendation at its meeting of June 24, 1949.

(3)  A Report on the Faculty Center Association prepared by John Sandbrook in 2004 contains 5 Parts.  Part I deals with the “Formative History and Construction” of our Faculty Center and will be available, within the next month, to read online.

 

 


 

 
       

MEMBERSHIP  I  BY LAWS  I  F.A.Q.'S  I  INTERNET ACCESS  I  RECIPROCITY  I  DINING  I  CORAL PATIO  I  DAILY LUNCH  I  TUE/THUR DINNER  I
EVENT HOSTING  I  BANQUET MENU'S  I  EVENT POLICIES  I  ROOMS/EQUIPMENT  I  WEDDINGS  I  PHOTOS  I  UPCOMING EVENTS  I
CONTACT US  I  DIRECTIONS  I 
HOURS / OPERATION  I  MANAGEMENT  I  OFFICE STAFF  I