University Students' Cooperative Association
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The University Students' Cooperative Association or USCA is a student housing cooperative serving primarily the University of California, Berkeley but open to any student living in or near Berkeley, California. The USCA is a member of NASCO.
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[edit] History
The USCA began in 1933, to meet the need for affordable student housing during the Great Depression. Berkeley YMCA director Harry Kingman inspired 14 students to start the first housing cooperative in Berkeley, doing workshifts in exchange for lower rent. In the fall of 1933 the students leased Barrington Hall which housed 48 students. Sherman, Sheridan, and Euclid all opened during this era, as well as Stebbins, the first women's co-op.
After World War II the USCA also purchased Ridge House and Cloyne Court Hotel to meet the demand from the increase in the student population caused by the GI Bill. In the 1960s the USCA opened one of the first co-ed housing projects in the nation, Ridge Project, later renamed Casa Zimbabwe in the 1980s. The 1960s and 1970s saw a decline in the popularity of the Greek System in Berkeley, which allowed the USCA to purchase defunct sororities which became Davis House, Andres Castro Arms, and Wolf House.
The 1970s saw the opening of Lothlorien, a vegetarian theme house, and Kingman Hall, both of which formerly belonged to cults (Lothlorien belonging to the One World Family and Kingman Hall to the Berkeley Living Love Center). This decade also saw the construction and opening of the Rochdale Village Apartments, one of the USCA's three apartment facilities. The others are Fenwick Weaver's Village and the Northside Apartments. The USCA also owns two Graduate and Re-entry Student houses, The Convent and Hillegass.
In 1990, the members of the USCA voted to close its largest co-op Barrington Hall, in reaction to complaints from neighbors and problems with the City. The decade also saw the opening of two new theme houses: the African American Theme House, opened in response to the University's closing of all of its theme houses; and, in 1999, Oscar Wilde House, the first LGBT co-op in the country. Oscar Wilde House is a former fraternity house, which the USCA was able to buy due to the continuing decline in the popularity of the Greek system in Berkeley.
[edit] Houses
The USCA currently owns and operates 20 houses and apartments, housing over 1300 students.
- African American Theme House (1997)
- Andres Castro Arms (1971)
- Casa Zimbabwe (1966 as "Ridge Project", renamed in 1987))
- Cloyne Court (1946), UC students only.
- The Convent (1992), UC graduate and re-entry students only.
- Davis House (1969)
- Euclid Hall (1968)
- Fenwick Weaver's Village (1981)
- Hoyt Hall (1953), women only.
- Hillegass/Parker House (2005), graduate and re-entry students only.
- Kidd Hall (1960)
- Kingman Hall (1977)
- Lothlorien (1975), vegetarian theme house.
- Northside Apartments (1960)
- Oscar Wilde House (1999), LGBT theme house.
- Ridge House (1945)
- Rochdale Village Apartments (1971)
- Sherman (1942), women only.
- Stebbins Hall (1936)
- Wolf House (1974)
The following facilities were once owned and operated by the USCA, but are now closed or otherwise defunct.
- Barrington Hall (1933–1989)
- Sheridan Hall (1934–1943)
- Oxford Hall (1938–1977), original location of Central Kitchen (CK), leased until purchase in 1963
- Lexington Hall (1943–1948), purchased from Japanese Students' Club, then returned after WWII. Repurchased in 1968 and reopened as Euclid Hall.
- Le Chateau (1977–2005), closed in Spring 2005. Reopened in Fall 2005 as Hillegass/Parker House.
[edit] Central Co-op Services
Right below Casa Zimbabwe are the USCA's Central Office and the Central Kitchen and Central Maintenance facilities.
Central Office handles all of the applications to the USCA and determines where members will be placed. Placement is based on how long the applicant has been a member of the USCA, the member's preferences, and the number of vacancies in their preferred house(s).
Central Kitchen handles and delivers the food orders for all of the houses except the apartments and Hillegass/Parker House. Food orders are handled on the house level by the Food or Kitchen Managers. Central Kitchen also handles the supply orders for all of the houses, such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies.
Central Maintenance is responsible for major work on the houses, including major projects or renovations. Most minor work is handled by house Maintenance Managers.
[edit] Famous USCA Alumni
- Beverly Cleary (1938, Stebbins Hall), author of the Ramona series of children's books
- Narsai David (1953–1955, Cloyne Court), food correspondent for KCBS AM radio in San Francisco
- Andreas Floer (1983–1985, Barrington Hall), German-American mathematician, Floer homology
- Norman Mineta (1949–1950, Ridge House), United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush
- Gordon Moore (1950, Cloyne Court), Intel co-founder
- Leon F. Litwack (195?, boarder, Cloyne Court), Pulitzer Prize winner, UC Berkeley History Professor
- Stephan Zielinski (1987-1989?, Casa Zimbabwe), author
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- The Green Book, a collection of USCA history
