
Social Justice & Community
-

Center for Labor and Community partners with regional union leaders on state-funded push to ensure workplace rights, safety, and benefits
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Labor and Community will partner with the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO on a state grant to educate workers across the Central Coast in sectors like agriculture, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, and retail.
-

April in Santa Cruz highlights innovation and trans-cultural identities
The annual music festival is back bringing with it new performers and immersive experiences
-

New book explains the public health costs of prisons and policing
Assistant Professor Carlos Martinez’s latest co-edited book explores the public health impacts of punitive policing, incarceration, and deportation policies and describes how the abolitionist health justice movement is working toward a new, more just vision of “safety” that protects, rather than harms, the health and wellbeing of our society’s most vulnerable people.
-

Alumna named to Inc.’s Female Founders 500 List
Cassi Janakos recognized for leading workplace lactation solutions
-

Music meets motherhood in inspiring performance
Stephanie F. Valadez blended together her latin heritage with her experience in motherhood to compose a concert that embodies who she is.
-

Reviving Indigenous languages: $600,000 grant honors the linguistic tapestry of Oaxacan immigrants in California
The new cohort of THI Oaxacan Language Public Fellows will develop an exhibition in collaboration with and under the layered mentorship of library professionals, museum professionals, local transnational Indigenous activists and scholars, and academic faculty.
-

Celebrated trans author Jennifer Finney Boylan visits during a critical moment
Bestselling author Jennifer Finney Boylan, one of the nation’s most influential and recognizable advocates for trans rights, is currently serving as scholar-in-residence at UC Santa Cruz during a fraught time for both trans rights and the humanities.
-

Research Corporation for Science Advancement honors Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz has been named a recipient of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s (RCSA) Robert Holland Jr. Award, which honors outstanding contributions to research, leadership, and mentorship in the sciences.
-

Jose Ramirez is helping one UC at a time
The University of California, Santa Cruz Arts Division is putting its mission into action with Art Matters, an upcoming event in Los Angeles that underscores the transformative power of the arts. The evening will bring together a dynamic mix of alumni, faculty, and supporters, including acclaimed Chicano artist José Ramírez.
-

AI chatbots perpetuate biases when performing empathy, study finds
A new study explores how GPT-4o, the latest model from OpenAI, evaluates and performs empathy compared to humans, and finds major gaps exist.
-

A legacy of hope and healing
Barrios Unidos Founder and UCSC alumnus Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez is a pillar of activism and champion of nonviolence in Santa Cruz County
-

Building a better Santa Cruz: UCSC alumna Susan True shapes community philanthropy
As the CEO of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County and UCSC Foundation board member, Susan True cultivates transformative change