Ackerman Union - The Campus Living Room
A stop on UCLA Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
Next door is the much larger Ackerman Union, which opened on April 3, 1961, after a booming student body outgrew Kerckhoff. Several generations of Bruins paid off its 40-year construction bond through their student fees. The five-story building opened with a grand ballroom, a coffee shop, a TV lounge, rooms for billiards and table tennis, and even a 10-lane bowling alley.
The building takes its name from William C. Ackerman, who arrived at UCLA in 1919 as a student and tennis player, stayed on as a coach and physical education instructor, and ran the Associated Students for 34 years. When he retired in 1967, the union was named for him.
The bowling lanes are long gone, but Ackerman is still where Bruins eat, meet and shop. Inside are food courts, lounges, meeting rooms and the main UCLA Store, the easiest place on campus to pick up blue and gold gear. Out front, Bruin Walk fills with club tables recruiting passers-by, so expect a flyer or two.
Getting here: Ackerman Union is the large building right next door, just west of Kerckhoff Hall.
Did you know?: For its first six years the building was simply called the Student Union; it became Ackerman Union only in 1967.
Photo op: Step back onto Bruin Walk to frame the long front of the building with the stream of students in the foreground.
More on Wikipedia: Associated Students of the University of California, Los Angeles
Stops on this tour
- Royce Hall - Two Towers, Not Twins
- Powell Library - Where Fahrenheit 451 Was Typed
- Inverted Fountain - Where the Water Falls In
- Kerckhoff Hall - A Widow's Gothic Gift
- Ackerman Union - The Campus Living Room
- Bruin Bear - Two Tons of Bronze Mascot
- Pauley Pavilion - The House Wooden Filled
- Wilson Plaza - UCLA's Front Porch
- Janss Steps - 87 Steps and a Legend
- Fowler Museum - World Art Behind Brick Arches
- Murphy Sculpture Garden - Masterpieces Under Jacarandas