Social Justice & Community
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Connecting hearts, heritage, and higher education
By supporting The Humanities Institute and volunteering with Senderos, Carolyn and Curt Coleman help bridge campus and community—connecting students, families, and cultural traditions across generations.
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Arts & Culture, Campus News, Climate & Sustainability, Earth & Space, Health, Social Justice & Community, Student Experience, TechnologyInspiring Change: UC Santa Cruz launches $750M campaign
The campaign is a collective effort to raise funding to accelerate the campus’s groundbreaking discoveries, create real, lasting solutions to some of the world’s most consequential challenges, and amplify the next generation of leaders and scholars.
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Redefining systems of care: Alumna works to advance health equity across California
Alumna and co-CEO of Essential Access Health Dr. Nomsa Khalfani (Kresge ’91, sociology) works to advance sexual and reproductive health equity across California and is a public health leader in her community.
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Empowering community organizations to lead on economic development
The Institute for Social Transformation organized a recent statewide gathering that brought together partners from the Community Economic Mobilization Initiative.
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Cal Teach at 20: Striving to continue sending much-needed STEM educators into underserved communities
UC Santa Cruz program marks 20 years of putting service-minded STEM majors on a path to helping public schools students embrace math and science
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UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association honors 2025 Alumni Award recipients
Barry J. Bowman, Terri McCullough, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Daniel Nane Alejandrez, and Aviv Elor were honored on Oct. 17 at the UCSC Alumni Awards Celebration Event.
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Institute for Social Transformation awarded $700k grant to support inclusive economic development throughout Central California
The James Irvine Foundation has awarded the institute a two-year community-level learning partner grant as part of its Priority Communities initiatives, which seeks to strengthen regional economies by empowering low-wage workers, families, and organizations to drive economic change.
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Breaking barriers and guiding others
As an outreach specialist with UC Santa Cruz’s Underground Scholars Program, Sammy Chavez (Rachel Carson ’25, Latin American and Latino studies and sociology) supports students navigating complex challenges in higher education. While completing his own degree, he was recognized with the Silver Slug Scholarship as a staff member pursuing his studies.
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Educational Partnership Center awarded $18.33 million in federal GEAR UP grants
UC Santa Cruz received two of the five GEAR UP Partnership grants in California, expanding educational access and opportunities for Central Coast students and families.
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Students support local antipoverty efforts through internship program
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Economic Justice and Action provided paid student internship opportunities with local nonprofits through a program funded by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.
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Economics Ph.D. candidate receives grant to study effects of rental control on household finances and labor market mobility
In the face of the increasing cost of living, economic research is uncovering how public policy initiatives are directly and indirectly shaping housing markets.
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UC Santa Cruz alumni leading local nonprofits: Pie Ranch
Many local nonprofits have roots that trace back to UC Santa Cruz alumni, who played pivotal roles in launching and shaping their missions. Alumnus Jered Lawson (Kresge ’92, community studies) co-founded Pie Ranch in 2005 and played a key role in launching UC Santa Cruz’s and the Homeless Garden Project’s Community Support Agriculture (CSA) programs…