UCLA FIRSTS Every other Friday, The Bruin will
highlight social, political and scientific advancements that
originated at UCLA and set standards for both the university and
the nation. Â Photos courtesy of UCLA Archives Helen
Matthewson Laughlin served as dean of women in the 1920s
at UCLA.
By Janet Chang
Daily Bruin Contributor
From 1919 to 1920, female students outnumbered male students at
UCLA approximately six to one. It’s no wonder then that since
its establishment as a university in 1919, UCLA has promoted
leadership and progress among women.
Today, it’s home to several women’s organizations
and support groups and can boast of having one of the
nation’s top-ranked departments in Women’s studies.
Last year, the department expanded their curriculum by offering
graduate degrees for the first time.
Nancy Henley served as the first permanent director of the UCLA
women’s studies program from 1980 to1986.
“It was hard to get the courses offered,” Henley
said. “There were faculty that wanted to teach but their
department chairs felt that it would be too difficult.”
Henley negotiated with department chairs to allow faculty
members to teach under the women’s studies program one year
and their respective departments the following year.
What began as an interdisciplinary concentration led to a
successful undergraduate and graduate program dedicated to
women.
“There’s been a lot of growth,” Henley said.
“It started out as just a concentration and then a
major. And then the UCLA Center for the Study of Women was
established, which is an extension of the program.”
The collaboration and dedication of women helped advance UCLA as
a leading institution dedicated to acknowledging women’s
accomplishments as well as addressing problems.
“It wasn’t me alone,” Henley said.Â
“There were a lot of women working at different times in a
committee. A lot of women giving up their personal time to get
the program started on a firm basis.”
The success of the women’s studies program led to other
events that involved the community in addition to the faculty,
staff and students.
Last year, several campus groups, such as the Women’s
Resource Center, now known as the Center for Women and Men, and the
UCLA Alumni Association, led the first “Women 4 Change”
conference, attended by more than 600 people.
 The Helen Matthewson Club was the first living co-op for
women at UCLA. “”˜Women 4 Change’s’ attempt
was to expose women’s accomplishments at UCLA and address
challenges faced by women,” said Lindsay Fisher, co-chair for
this year’s Women 4 Change, scheduled to take place May 14.
It will coincide with Take Back the Night and the UCLA Clothesline
Project.
The Clothesline Project is a nationally organized event, where
survivors of abuse share their stories by depicting it on a
T-shirt. Take Back the Night is another national event where women
gather locally to speak out against violence.
Unlike last year, which did not have a theme, this year’s
“Women 4 Change” will focus on women’s bodies and
women’s health.
Fisher became involved with the “Women 4 Change”
conference through her work with alumni women’s groups.
“Our alumnae come from all areas and are involved in the
different stages of life,” Fisher said. “As staff and
faculty, it’s important for us to see what women are doing in
the community.”
These alumnae groups ““ Gold Shield, Las Donas, Prytanean,
Faculty Women’s Club, Affiliates, Westwood Women’s
Bruin Club and the Helen Matthewson Club ““ support campus
activities through scholarships and weekly luncheons.
The Faculty Women’s Club and the Helen Matthewson Club
have been around since the early days of UCLA.
The Helen Matthewson Club, founded in 1923 by Helen Matthewson
Laughlin, dean of women during UCLA’s early years, began as
the first living cooperative for university women.
When UCLA relocated to Westwood in 1929, the Helen Matthewson
Club established itself on 900 Hilgard Ave.
Laughlin helped female students complete college by providing a
residential honorary organization for self-supporting university
women. In September of 1923, she established the Oakwood House with
the help of the Hollywood Women’s Club, which paid rent.
Continuing the promotion of women’s leadership that
Laughlin started, UCLA became home to such groups as the Bruin
Belles Service Association.
Bruin Belles is UCLA’s official philanthropic organization
dedicated to community service and promotion of women
leaders. The 150 female students volunteer more than 15,000
hours annually to the community.
The organization began as a group of “co-eds,”
recruited by the UCLA rugby team in 1948 to entertain visiting
teams and assist in games. They called themselves the Bruin Rugby
Association.
Soon, class presidents started utilizing them as hostess groups
for events. As grew in prestige, the group changed its name to
Bruin Belles, with 600 to 1,000 girls applying and only 20 to 60
selected as members each year.