UC Santa Cruz hopes to widen community awareness of its efforts to expand educational opportunity and access, to promote social equity, and to foster research excellence by staffing an educational booth at the upcoming Santa Cruz County Fair. This year’s event is set for Sept. 14-18 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. Historically, upward of 75,000 people attend the fair during its five-day run.
Audries Blake, assistant director of community relations, is spearheading efforts to increase the university’s engagement countywide, with a particular focus on South County.
“Tabling not only boosts our involvement in a fantastic local event, it’s an opportunity for us to let the community know about the many great things happening on campus,” she said. “We’re known internationally as a research powerhouse, and nationally as a campus that students chose because they want to make a difference in the world. We want to keep the community informed and to look for new ways that we can work together.”
Organizers are seeking campus employees to participate by staffing the booth, which will be set up in the fair’s Educational Area. It’s expected that participants will greet community members, pass out educational materials about the campus, and give away free items to booth visitors. Volunteers will be asked to fill a two-hour shift. An online signup sheet has been created. Pre-approval from a supervisor is required for shifts scheduled during the workday. Each participant will receive a parking pass and an entrance pass for the day they staff the booth. Anyone who works two or more shifts will receive a $25 gift card from the university for food.
A Zoom meeting will be held before the fair’s first day to give those who sign up an overview of the event, answer questions, and provide any last-minute updates.
The fair runs Sept. 14-18, from noon to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. For more information, email Audries Blake at arblake@ucsc.edu.
