The Berkeley Student Cooperative: A History of Affordable and Cooperative Living
The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), formerly known as the University Students' Cooperative Association (USCA), stands as a unique student housing model primarily serving UC Berkeley students, while remaining open to any full-time post-secondary student. The BSC provides affordable housing options through a cooperative system where students contribute through workshifts, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility.
Genesis and Early Years (1930s-1940s)
The seeds of the BSC were sown during the Great Depression in 1933, a period marked by economic hardship and a pressing need for affordable student housing. Harry Lees Kingman, a YMCA director, envisioned a cooperative living arrangement where students could collectively manage resources, share food, and reduce living expenses. This vision was rooted in the "Rochdale Principles," emphasizing democratic control and collective purchasing power.
In the fall of 1933, this vision materialized when students leased a Northside fraternity house from Sigma Nu, establishing the original Barrington Hall. This initial venture accommodated 48 students. The following year, expansion continued with the leasing of another fraternity house on Southside, which became Sheridan Hall, housing 100 students. By 1935, Barrington Hall relocated to a larger apartment building, accommodating 200 members.
The cooperative's growth extended to women's housing with the opening of Stebbins Hall in 1936, marking the establishment's first all-women's cooperative house. Subsequent years saw the addition of other houses, including Sherman Hall, Oxford, and Atherton.
The onset of World War II brought significant changes to the student population. With a decline in male students, Sherman and Atherton houses temporarily ceased operations. During this period, the USCA demonstrated its commitment to social responsibility by assisting Japanese Americans who were being forcefully relocated from their homes. The USCA took over the lease on the Japanese Student Club's building, transforming it into Lexington Hall, which housed approximately 30 women before being returned in 1948. Meanwhile, Barrington Hall was temporarily rented to the Navy, leaving Oxford as the sole male residence.
Read also: Lifelong learning for adults
Post-War Expansion and Evolution (1950s-1970s)
The post-World War II era witnessed a surge in student enrollment, fueled by the GI Bill. In response, the USCA purchased Ridge House and Cloyne Court Hotel to accommodate the growing number of male students.
In the 1950s, the organization officially changed its name to the University Students' Cooperative Association (USCA) in response to new state laws. The decade also saw the purchase of Kidd Hall in 1960.
The 1960s and 1970s marked a period of significant growth and transformation for the USCA. As the popularity of the Greek system waned in Berkeley, the USCA seized the opportunity to acquire defunct sororities, which were repurposed into Davis House, Andres Castro Arms, and Wolf House. The 1970s also saw the opening of Lothlorien Hall, a vegetarian theme house, and Kingman Hall, both of which formerly housed New Age communities. Lothlorien was previously leased to the One World Family Commune and Kingman Hall was owned by the Berkeley Living Love Center.
This decade also saw the construction and opening of the Rochdale Village Apartments, one of BSC's three apartment facilities. The others are Fenwick Weaver's Village and the Northside Apartments. BSC also owns two graduate and re-entry student houses, the Convent and Hillegass/Parker House, formerly Le Chateau.
Challenges and New Directions (1980s-Present)
In 1989, the members of the USCA voted to close Barrington Hall, its largest co-op, in reaction to complaints from neighbors and problems with the city.
Read also: Qualifying for California Residency at UC Berkeley
The 1990s brought both challenges and opportunities. In the wake of the university's closure of all its theme houses, the BSC responded by opening the African American Theme House. In 1999, the Oscar Wilde House, the first gay-themed student co-operative housing in the country, was established.
In 2007, the organization adopted its current name, the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), solidifying its identity and mission.
Governance and Management
The BSC operates under a democratic governance structure. The BSC is governed by a board of directors with 28 voting members. Each of the 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes elects a representative to a 12-month term approximately corresponding the UC Berkeley academic year. Larger houses may have up to 4 representatives. The BSC Alumni Association and Employees Association also each have one representative. At the recommendation of the president, the board may also seat 1-2 members of the BSC Alumni Association and/or the UC Berkeley faculty as additional board members. The President and Vice presidents, who run committees that screen proposals for the board, are student members elected by the board to 1-year terms.
Complementing the student-led governance, the BSC has a permanent staff of approximately 20, including maintenance, office, and food warehouse employees. Staff supervises student managers who handle day-to-day management at the houses and apartment complexes. These managers are elected by their individual houses.
Centralized Services and Cooperative Living
The BSC provides centralized services to support its cooperative houses and apartments. In front of the Casa Zimbabwe building are the BSC's Central Office and the Central Kitchen and Central Maintenance facilities. Central Office handles all of the applications to BSC and determines where members will be placed. Placement is based on applicants eligibility, how long they have been a member of BSC, 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 but not the apartments. 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, as well as the furniture orders for both the houses and the apartments. Central Maintenance is responsible for major work on the houses, including major projects or renovations. Most minor work is handled by house Maintenance Managers.
Read also: A Legacy of Excellence at UC Berkeley
At the house or apartment complex level, residents have the option of electing a "WRM" Waste-reduction Manager. These managers are responsible for recycling plastics, glass, paper, cardboard as well as composting. Waster-reduction Managers usually maintain color-coded bins, post information sheets and hold workshops/seminars to help residents make sustainable choices. WRMs can fine residents who do not follow house/apartment sustainability policies.
Living in a cooperative is naturally sustainable. Sharing meals and facilities means less waste and less use of resources.
Current Operations and Architectural Significance
The BSC currently operates 20 houses and apartments (of which it owns 16), housing and/or feeding over 1300 students and ranging from small houses of 17 residents to large houses of over 100 residents.
BSC properties date back as far as 1904 with several of the buildings are considered to be architectural highlights of the city. The Ridge House is a faux Tudor mansion built in 1906 during the Beaux-Arts architecture movement by John Galen Howard. Who was supervising architect of the Master Plan for the University of California, Berkeley campus, and founding the University of California's architecture program.
Specific Houses and Their Histories
- Davis House: Davis House is located at 2833 Bancroft Steps, Southside of campus, on a pedestrian pathway between it and the Alpha Phi sorority, also being close to International House and California Memorial Stadium. It holds 36 residents and is considered to be the finest residence at BCS. Referred to as "the retirement home, " as it is occupied by co-opers who have been part of the BSC system for the longest time. The building was originally built in 1913 as the Richard Clark house, a single-family mansion, built for the family of Richard Clark an associate of William Randolph Hearst. The beautiful interiors are described by Sara Holmes Boutelle in her book Julia Morgan: Architect: "Morgan gave free play to her love of complexity in the wood-paneled living room, dining room, and library, all of which have fireplaces with elaborate mantels. The living-room mantel is carved of oak, showing acorns, leaves, birds, and squirrels; another has classical details; brackets in the hall and on yet another fireplace, in the library, repeat the Tudor rose." With the completion of Memorial Stadium in 1923 and the International House in 1929, the neighborhood transferred from one of quiet, expensive mansions into a student-oriented neighborhood dominated by sorority and fraternity houses. At some point the house became a sorority Alpha Xi Delta and several additions were made to the building, including a sleeping porch with a deck above that features an expansive view of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. In the 1960s, the popularity of the Greek system in Berkeley saw a steady decline. Many sorority and fraternity houses were forced to close for want of members, including Davis. In 1969, BSC purchased the building, one of several former Greek houses it acquired during this era. Davis Hall opened to residents in January 1970.
- Wolf House: Wolf House houses 29 residents, located one house down from Piedmont Avenue, between the Wright Institute and Kappa Kappa Gamma, and two blocks from the University of California. It can be considered as part of the 'frat row' on the Southside area of Berkeley, area dominated by sororities and fraternities. Built for the Rector of St. Mark's Church, the Rev. Edward L. Parsons, in 1905 and originally situated just east of Telegraph Avenue on Durant at 2532. In 1915, with the commercialization of Telegraph, the family of Rev. Parsons decided to have the house moved up Durant Avenue to 2732. The front porch became enclosed and under Morgan's supervision the location of the front door changed to fit the lot. In 1924, when Rev. Parsons became the Episcopal Bishop of California, the family moved to San Francisco, the house was first rented and later sold.
- Person of Color Theme House (Castro): Person of Color Theme House (Castro) houses 56 residents and is located at 2310 Prospect Street close to Davis house, on the other side of Alpha Phi. Its most distinguishing external feature is the three-story red brick staircase leading up to the Warring Street entrance. Built in 1911, it was designed in the Mediterranean style for metallurgist Charles Washington Merrill, with the view of the bay being the centerpiece of its design. It originally featured an S-shaped driveway running up the steep hill to the house and the interior was elaborately decorated with redwood, pine and oak paneling, similar to the interior of Davis. This changed in the 1930s, when the house was bought by the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, which stripped the interiors of the woodwork and enclosed the front porch in glass. In the 1950s, it added a northwest wing. Eventually, like other Greek houses in ZTA was unable to attract enough members to remain open. Located close to the Memorial Stadium, the house was formally a UC Berkeley Slavic House. It was bought by BSC, becoming a co-op 1997, two years after California's ban on affirmative action which resulted in African American student population at the university decreasing from 6.5% to less than 3%. The residence is open to students of all backgrounds.
- Casa Zimbabwe: Opened in 1966, Casa Zimbabwe, commonly referred to as CZ, is located in Northside a block from the North Gate of the university. It sits on what is referred to as the "Holy Hill", the area surrounding a five-way intersection surrounded on all sides by churches and seminaries, such as the Graduate Theological Union.
- Cloyne Court Hotel: The Cloyne Court Hotel, often referred to as Cloyne and like a lot of other BCS houses, is close to the north side of the university. Cloyne was built in 1904, as a high-class hotel, and became a BSC co-op in 1946. In the past, the house was known for its party and rules-free culture and played a notable role in the Bay Area music scene.
- Euclid Hall: The residents of Euclid Hall are affectionately referred to as Euclidians. Euclid Hall was originally the University of California Japanese Students' Club (JSC). During World War II, when Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the west coast. From the 1970s until 2005,
- Hillegass Parker House: Hillegass Parker House (aka HiP House) was the site of Le Chateau, a large co-op for 85 residents, composed of three building and an outdoor pool. After closure of Barrington Hall, Le Chateau took its role to become the "black sheep of the system, Cal's communal-living version of Animal House". After ongoing complaints and numerous court cases filed by its neighbors, an agreement was reached, with BSC converting the house to graduate, or re-entry 25 and older co-op.
- Hoyt Hall: Hoyt Hall is located on Northside and was purchased by BSC in 1953. An all women cooperative it was only one building away from another all women hall - Stebbins. The two houses had a close relationship, both rivalry and comradery wise. It was named after Aice G.
- Kingman Hall: The hall was originally designed as a fraternity in 1914, Berkeley Living Love Center in 1973 and joined the BSC as Kingman Hall in 1977. It is named after Harry L.
- Ridge House: Like other BSC historical buildings, Person of Color Theme House (Castro) was an early 20th century, expansive family home, which became a sorority before it was bought by BSC in 1971. Formally a mansion, Ridge House is an architecturally unique building that sits a top of the "Holy Hill" just north of the Berkeley campus.
- Sherman Hall: Sherman Hall is an all female house, co-ed in the summer, with its residents referring to themselves as Sherminites. It is one of the two women-only houses in BSC. Sherman is located on the South Side of Berkeley near the California Memorial Stadium and IHouse and next door to Davis Hall.
- Stebbins Hall: Stebbins Hall is located on the north side of the University of California, Berkeley campus. The University Student Cooperative Association purchased a hotel in 1936 as a site for the first all-women cooperative house, and it remained this way until 1971 when Stebbins became co-ed. It was named after Lucy Ward Stebbins, former Dean of Women at University of California, Berkeley. The green hands on the front of the building were painted by residents of Cloyne as a prank, when Cloyne was all men and Stebbins was all women.
- The Convent: The Convent a former convent, bought by is located at about a mile from the UC Berkeley campus. Because it is located on university property, all residents are required to be students of the university, which is also true of Cloyne Court. Like Hillegass/Parker House, the Convent is BSC coop housing only graduate and re-entry age 25 and over students. It is the only co-op in which all residents have single rooms.
- Wolf House ("Wolfhause"): Located in 'frat row' on the Southside of Berkeley, among Berkeley's fraternities and sororities, the house was bought from a fraternity and opened as a co-op in 1999. Wolf House ("Wolfhause") is located two blocks from the university; residents refer to themselves as "wolves". Located two blocks away from the university in the Southside area of Berkeley, next to Piedmont avenue in the area of fraternities and sororities known as 'frat row'.
- Northside Apartments: 2526 - 2540 Le Conte Ave. Northside Apartments is located near Kidd, Euclid, Stebbins, and Hoyt co-ops, in the Northside neighborhood of Berkeley.
- Rochdale Village: 2424 Haste St. Rochdale Village was named after the English town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where the Rochdale Pioneers developed the Rochdale Principles of cooperation. In 1970, the City of Berkeley, the University of California, and the BSC collaborative to expand the supply of low-cost housing for University students. The result was the financing and construction of Rochdale Village, one of the first student housing projects in the nation to receive United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financing.
Notable Alumni
Norman Mineta (1949-1950, Ridge House), United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush. Nathan Huggins (1952-1954, Oxford Hall), the first W. E. B.
tags: #berkeley #student #cooperative #history
