In early 2025 the UC Berkeley administration announced its plans to destroy three historic, landmarked buildings on the site of the old Anna Head School it owns to build student housing. A year later in April 2026 the University revealed its plans to bulldoze the structures to build a massive, 26-story student residence to house 2000 students. Despite having multiple alternatives available and the support of the Committee to Save Anna Head School to build much-needed student housing, UC Berkeley has forged ahead, in the face of widespread community opposition that includes many of its own faculty and students. As our nation’s leading public university, UC Berkeley has, on this assignment, failed to develop an appropriate plan that would meet its need for more student housing while also honoring the historical legacy of one of the most iconic buildings in the City.
UC Berkeley acquired the Anna Head School in 1964 through right of eminent domain, forcing its owners to build a new school ten miles away in Oakland. Around that time the University took over and bulldozed the adjacent city block of houses that became Peoples Park. The historical importance of the Anna Head School was well established in 1980 when both the City of Berkeley and the National Trust for Historic Preservation declared the school’s six buildings to be historical landmarks. The original building from 1892, Channing Hall, was Berkeley’s first brown-shingled structure, which helped spark the Arts and Crafts movement. Channing Hall was built by the school’s founder Anna Head, one of the first women to graduate from UC Berkeley in 1879 and a pioneer in Progressive education and the education of girls and young women. It is that legacy that UC Berkeley plans to destroy.
While the University apparently did not have a plan for its use when it acquired the Anna Head School, over the years it housed the pioneering Institute for Study of Social Issues. For a time, it appeared that UC Berkeley would respect and cherish the legacy of the Anna Head School it had acquired. Beginning in 2008 the University conducted historic and adaptive use studies of Anna Head School, built the Martinez Commons student residence on the school’s parking lot, and beautifully renovated three of the school’s smaller buildings. Then, in 2017, UC Berkeley suddenly appeared to abandon the Anna Head School, pursuing what one architect described as “demolition by neglect.” UC officials professed in 2020 that they “loved the buildings” but had no money, and then the University stood by as the buildings were ravaged by a bomb cyclone rainstorm, burned by several arson fires, and soaked by faulty plumbing.
Beginning in 2021, a group of committed volunteers, supported by hundreds of individuals from the University, the Berkeley community and beyond, has worked assiduously and carefully with the University on a plan to save Channing Hall, while declaring support for building student housing that would also require tearing down the other two landmarked buildings. In 2024 the University’s own consultants Hanbury Architects suggested a feasible model for a 14-story, 850 student residence, one of the largest on campus. In 2025 the Berkeley Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously declared its support for the proposal to save Channing Hall and build student housing. Instead, UC Berkeley retained Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill to design a massive structure of 26 stories, 14 stories higher than the nearby People’s Park dorm, for a remarkable estimate of 2000 students, more than the population of most small, liberal arts colleges. The renderings of the tower appear completely out of place in the surrounding neighborhood, and the very large scale of the building promises to create untold congestion in the area. Alas, the University turned aside all offers of help, including raising funds for the renovations. As one person observed, the UC Berkeley Administration appeared to “give a stiff arm” to the community. (A full account of the effort to save the school can be found on the Anna Head School website.)
UC Berkeley is clearly under great pressure to add student housing. With enrollment that has grown the last two decades by over 12,500 students to more than 46,000, UC Berkeley ranks at the bottom of 10 UC campuses, housing less than 30% of its undergraduate and graduate students. UC Berkeley’s on-going, three-decade financial crisis, with annual structural deficits often in the range of $150 million, provides important context to understand the University’s decisions on student housing. The state has cut its support for the University’s operating budget over the last three decades from approximately 40% to 10%, operating budgets have been cut throughout the University, and in 2025 the federal administration slashed research funding for Berkeley. Facing these financial pressures, the University has apparently placed a premium on housing projects that “pencil out” financially, and an architectural model that “bigger is better.” Yet, the analysis conducted by the Save Anna Head School Committee suggests that building appropriate student housing and renovating Channing Hall is financially feasible.
Despite the University’s pressing need for housing and its financial challenges, there is still time for UC Berkeley revise its plans for the Anna Head School site and its proposed student housing tower. Those who have worked on the Anna Head School project are great admirers of UC Berkeley and proud to live in a city with a world-class university. UC Berkeley should pause it plans for the 26-story tower and revisit the proposal to build an appropriately sized student residence while restoring Channing Hall. With enlightened leadership, UC Berkeley can recover from its failing marks, honor the University’s and the City’s history, save Channing Hall, and add much needed student housing. There is still time for UC Berkeley to get an A for restoring Channing Hall.
Paul Chapman
Emeritus Head, Head-Royce School, 1984-2010
Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley, 2010-12
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Rendering of the Anna Head School Tower, April 2026