Welcome back for Winter Quarter and Happy New Year. I hope you all enjoyed a restful break.
I am delighted to see that UC Santa Cruz is more popular than ever. Nearly 60,000 prospective students recognize the possibilities of an outstanding undergraduate education here and have applied to join us in the fall.
We have a 5.6 percent increase in the number of California high school seniors applying and a 12 percent increase from California transfer students. Also, more students from other states and countries have applied, reflecting the fact that the good news about UC Santa Cruz is spreading.
I am especially heartened with the continuing trend of significant increases in applications from students with African American, Chicano/Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander heritage that helps UC Santa Cruz reflect the population of California. A recent report by Time magazine listed the campus as 12th in the country among top universities that have diversified the most from 1990 to 2014.
As the campus becomes even more diverse, we are committed to promoting and protecting an environment that values and supports every person in an atmosphere of civility, honesty, cooperation, professionalism and fairness.
You've probably noticed colorful new banners across campus celebrating our Principles of Community. I want to emphasize we will only succeed if we all value and respect each member of our campus community. It is fundamental to how we work together as scholars and as colleagues. The new banners help promote this message and are part of a larger effort to remind us to embrace diversity, be open, be purposeful, be caring, be just, be disciplined, and be celebrative.
I also want to let you know that we've launched a national search to find a successor to Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor Alison Galloway. Paul Koch, dean of Physical and Biological Sciences, is heading the search committee. We will have more information as the search continues and you will be invited to participate.
Two events are coming up that I want to draw your attention to. First, William D. "Bro" Adams is the speaker for our 2016 Sidhartha Maitra Memorial Lecture, Thursday, January 28. Adams, who earned his Ph.D. in History of Consciousness here, is chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and speaks eloquently on how the humanities are vital in our age.
Then, on February 12, we are incredibly fortunate and honored to have Alicia Garza, social activist and co-creator of the viral twitter hashtag and movement Black Lives Matter, as keynote speaker for the 32nd annual Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Don't miss it.
Remember, you can always share your ideas, suggestions, and concerns with me at chancellor@ucsc.edu.
