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Photo by Reed Hutchinson
UCLA Photographic Services
Faculty-in-Residence Jeffrey Lew provides Mexican hot chocolate
to students living in Sproul Hall. |
Coffee, tea and Sympathy
Faculty hails from the hill
BY Cynthia Lee
UCLA Today Staff
Imagine a high-rise residence hall without its 959 student residents.
Except for the distant echo of a door slamming shut somewhere along
the long corridors, a strange silence filled six-story Sproul Hall
during the holiday break.
Jeffrey Lew, faculty-in-residence (FIR), relaxed on a couch in
an empty lounge on the second floor, normally vibrating with student
energy. But not during the break, when it’s so quiet he can
hear owls hooting. “It’s like being on vacation,”
he said, smiling.
Lew, a lecturer in atmospheric sciences, and his wife, Allison,
didn’t go home for the holidays because Sproul is their home.
For nine years, the Lews have lived in a second-floor, rent-free
apartment, which occupies a space equivalent to three student rooms.
This is where they hold open houses monthly, offering pan dulce
and Mexican hot chocolate nightcaps to as many as 200 students.
Their apartment is where students rush for advice on saving sick
fish or drop in during finals week for “Coffee, Tea and Sympathy.”
During “dead week,” the couple goes on cookie patrol,
dropping off sustenance and encouragement to Sproul residents studying
for finals. It takes the Lews three nights to cover all the floors.
Over the years, the couple has hosted a contest to redecorate their
apartment, book discussions, apple-picking and pie-baking, photo
tours of the campus by moonlight, their own version of the “Iron
Chef” competition and bedtime story hours when residents,
in PJs if they wish, are invited to bring their favorites for the
Lews to read.
Such opportunities to build personal relationships with students
are central to the FIR program, run by the Office of Residential
Life, which aims to provide residents with academic inspiration
and support.
For interweaving his life into the fabric of student residential
life, Lew was selected as one of four winners of the 2004 Dr. Robert
M. Stevenson Faculty-in-Residence Award. The honor salutes the contributions
of live-in faculty to UCLA’s on-campus housing community.
Other winners were Frederick Burwick, professor of English and a
Hedrick Hall resident; Todd Franke, associate professor of social
welfare; and Megan Franke, associate professor of education. The
Frankes, husband and wife, live in De Neve Plaza.
Stevenson, an ethnomusicologist whom students affectionately called
“Doc,” was among the longest-serving FIRs, with 27-plus
years. A friend of Allison’s, he was the first to pique the
Lews’ interest in the program.
Even though Lew taught a general education course for 200 students
in atmospheric sciences, he wanted more interaction with students.
“I didn’t feel really connected to them,” he said.
Oddly enough, Lew never lived on campus when he was a UCLA student.
Instead, he carpooled from Palos Verdes. After earning B.S., M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric sciences from UCLA, Lew spent two
years doing postdoctoral work at the National Center for Atmospheric
Research in Boulder, Colo., studying snowflake growth in thunderstorms
and how the flakes affected the production of hail.
Since returning to UCLA to teach, Lew has unexpectedly found renown
in his role on the hill. “People everywhere know him,”
said Allison. “People yell to him at stoplights, in parking
lots, bridal salons, state parks, in East L.A. and the Bay Area.
It’s really amazing.”
Any faculty member who might be interested in joining the program
this fall has until Feb. 4 to submit an application and resume/curriculum
vitae. For information or an application, call Associate Director
Cheryl Sims at (310) 825-4536.
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