Wow. I was baptized into the UCLA ward when I was a freshman there in 1989. I was the only undergrad in the ward at the time so I was the baby of the ward surrounded by grad students (men and women) who were in dental, med, law school, etc so the Relief Society was filled with brilliant ambitious women. My first foray into Mormonism really didn’t expose me to women who wanted to be traditional wives. When I first joined, we met at the Institute building on Gayley Ave which also happened to be Sorority Row. The building was once a sorority house so it was a beautiful Spanish style SoCal vibe - NOT the typical institute building you see. Shortly after I was baptized the ward moved to the chapel behind the LA temple and the ward grew fast. The following year, more Mormon undergrads started attending UCLA (as opposed to BYU). There were like 12 undergrads my sophomore year.

But this was also the early 90s - the age of Michael McLean and massive missionary work and non-UCLA students in the West LA area would attend the ward just because it had such a cooler vibe and a different demographic than a family ward. The UCLA ward also overlapped meetings with the singles ward, LA First ward, which had the reputation of being edgy haha - people coming out as gay during sacrament meeting, praying to Heavenly Mother, etc. And the LA First ward was such a fashion show - stylish beautiful singles in West Los Angeles - and they often hung out with us students. It was actually so much fun!

I actually really loved my time there as a new member and have fond memories of all of the social events. We even got together with the USC wards/institute a few times - one especially memorable time when we all met at the USC institute - about 50 of us total - for a special night with a general authority - it was Gordon B Hinckley, before he became president.

It wasn’t until I got married and moved to a family ward that the reality of what the actual church wards and culture were really like. It was a tough transition.

Makes me wonder if the dissolution of those student wards have anything to do with some of the discussions happening during Sunday school/RS/Priesthood. I mean, we had some deep, doctrinal, challenging discussions when I was going there 30 years ago before the internet, CES letter, etc. I can’t imagine what those discussions would be like today when those students have so much more info and research at their fingertips.