Social Justice & Community

Making ethics accessible 

Alumnus Tim Shannon (Cowell ’71, history) has philanthropically supported the Humanities at UC Santa Cruz for 15 years. His support of the Norcal Regional Highschool Ethics Bowl, hosted annually at UC Santa Cruz, has opened doors for public schools across the region.

March 31, 2026

By Haneen Zain

Attending UC Santa Cruz was an easy decision for Tim Shannon (Cowell ’71, history). 

He grew up in San Jose, just over the hill from UC Santa Cruz—the newest University of California campus. Shannon was applying to colleges as a senior in high school in 1967, he was accepted to UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz; but after a trip to UCSC with his dad, the choice was set. 

“It was a beautiful, sunny day with a clear view from the Cowell courtyard all the way across the Monterey Bay, absolutely stunning,” Shannon said. “To paraphrase the line from Jerry Maguire, UCSC ‘had me at hello.’ I never even made it to the other two campuses that had accepted me.”

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in history in 1971, Shannon was immediately accepted into law school at UC Davis and passed the California Bar in 1974. His career consisted of working as a counsel for the senate judiciary committee, chief counsel for the senate insurance committee, and as a lobbyist for the California Medical Association before starting his own firm and then retiring in 2017. 

Shannon credits the Humanities at UC Santa Cruz with giving him the foundation to pursue a career in Law, and Cowell College for providing out-of-classroom experiences with renowned faculty. 

“At Cowell we were also blessed in those years to be taught and nurtured by some of the finest instructors in the state—Page Smith, John Dizikes, Jasper Rose and Mary Holmes,” Shannon recalled. “Among the all-stars though, there were many others.”   

Shannon’s personal experiences as a student at UC Santa Cruz set the foundation for his philanthropic support of the university. He has supported multiple programs across the Humanities including scholarships and fellowships, undergraduate experiential learning experiences, the Employing Humanities Initiative, and the Center for Public Philosophy. Shannon emphasizes that supporting the Humanities is more important than ever, and is appreciative of Humanities Dean Jasmine Alinder’s leadership. 

“It is vital to support the Humanities both financially and through spreading the word of its importance, particularly now that its values and mission are being attacked in a hostile political environment,” Shannon said. “I admire Jasmine and the leadership she brings to the Humanities at UCSC. Her vision and dedication make supporting this work all the more meaningful.” 

Of all the areas he’s supported over the course of 15 years at UC Santa Cruz, Shannon is personally connected to the Norcal Regional High School Ethics Bowl, hosted at UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Public Philosophy annually. Shannon’s support covers registration fees, lunch, and materials for participating high schools for the entirety of the event . 

Kyle Robertson is a Continuing Lecturer in Philosophy at UC Santa Cruz and the Director of the NorCal High School Ethics Bowl, San Quentin Ethics Bowl team, and Philosophy for Children programs. Robertson founded the regional high school program in 2012 when he was a Ph.D. student, and has watched it steadily grow. He emphasizes that Shannon’s support has made a profound impact on the accessibility of the event. 

“One of the things that Ethics Bowl organizers around the country struggle with is having local public schools participate,” Robertson said. “Tim’s support has made our regional different—in the 2026 event two months ago, for example, 22 of the 32 participating teams came from public schools.” 

In addition, six of the participating teams first encountered Ethics Bowl through UC Santa Cruz’s Outreach Invitational, a program that serves local, Spanish-speaking student populations. 

“I do not think we could have had the growth and diversity in our program without Tim’s support,“ Robertson added. “His support has also had a huge, positive impact on my ability to focus on the bowl itself, and I’m very grateful for that.” 

In addition to his philanthropic support, Shannon has served as a judge for the Regional Ethics Bowl competition every January since 2018. 

“Kyle Robertson, Jon Ellis, and Chris Ng do a fantastic job in organizing the event,” Shannon said. “The real treat for me is to see how excited the high school teams are, and the work that they put in preparing for discussing the nuances of 15 different hypothetical scenarios, and the thorny ethical problems presented.” 

For Shannon, supporting the NorCal Regional High School Ethics Bowl is a natural extension of the values he developed as a student at UC Santa Cruz over five decades ago. Watching high schoolers from public schools across the region engage with complex ethical questions each January, he sees the kind of transformative, out-of-classroom experience he credits with shaping his own life and career.