University of California, Santa Cruz

Prior to Spanish colonization, the Uypi tribe of the Awaswas Nation, who spoke Mutsun Costanoan of the Ohlone peoples, lived in what is now the campus of UCSC. During this time, the missionaries of Mission Santa Cruz removed a part of the forest to build a vineyard on top of what is now the Great Meadow.

After the California Gold Rush, many mining firms came to the area. The Cowell Lime Works operated on the entirety of what is now the Santa Cruz campus until 1920.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Although some of the original founders had already outlined plans for an institution like UCSC as early as the 1930s, the opportunity to realize their vision did not present itself until the City of Santa Cruz made a bid to the UC Board of Regents in the mid-1950s to build a campus just outside town, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=|title=University of California, Santa Cruz|newspaper=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/University-of-California-at-Santa-Cruz|access-date=}} During the mid-1950s, there was widespread public sentiment in favor of the establishment of a new UC campus somewhere south of the original campus at Berkeley. In 1957, the California State Senate passed a resolution asking the Regents to consider the Monterey Peninsula, and that same year, the California State Assembly passed its own resolution asking the Regents to consider the Santa Clara Valley.{{cite book|last1=Stadtman|first1=Verne A.|title=The University of California, 1868–1968|url=https://archive.org/details/universityofcali00stad|url-access=registration|date=1970|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/universityofcali00stad/page/412 412–413]}} In December 1959, the Regents voted to focus their site selection process on the Almaden Valley in San Jose (i.e., within the Santa Clara Valley and the larger region now known as Silicon Valley), but the public announcement of the Regents' decision immediately caused property values throughout that area to increase to the extent that the Regents could no longer afford to buy the necessary land. After another year of study, the Regents finally selected Santa Cruz as the location of the next UC campus.

However, Santa Cruz was selected for the beauty, rather than the practicality, of its location, and its remoteness led to the decision to develop a residential college system that would house most of the students on-campus.{{Cite book | last = McHenry | first = Dean E. | editor1-last = Spedding Calciano | editor1-first = Elizabeth | title = Volume II The University of California, Santa Cruz: Its Origins, Architecture, Academic Planning and Early Faculty Appointments 1958–1968 | publisher = UC Santa Cruz | year = 1974 | page = 59 | url = http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p265101coll13/id/3700 | format = PDF | access-date = February 19, 2010 | archive-date = November 2, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131102114450/http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p265101coll13/id/3700 | url-status = dead }} The formal design process for the Santa Cruz campus began in the late 1950s, culminating in the Long Range Development Plan of 1963.{{cite web| title = Long Range Development Plan, University of California Santa Cruz| publisher = UC Santa Cruz Campus Planning Committee| date = October 21, 1963| url = http://ppc.ucsc.edu/cp/planning/1963_lrdp.pdf| access-date = February 19, 2010| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100624040556/http://ppc.ucsc.edu/cp/planning/1963_lrdp.pdf| archive-date = June 24, 2010| df = mdy-all}} 1963 was also the year when the Regional History Project, an oral history project and the first major research project of UCSC, was started. Its purpose was originally to interview longtime residents of the Central California Coast area in order to help better understand the history of the region. Originally concentrated in the economic history of the area, it expanded to also cover the social and cultural history of the region before expanding its scope in 1967 to include a series of interviews on the history of UCSC and the Lick Observatory.{{Cite web |title=About the Project {{!}} University Library |url=https://library.ucsc.edu/reg-hist/about-the-project |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=library.ucsc.edu}} These series of interviews later expanded in scope and lead to a two volume series, Seeds of Something Different: An Oral History of the University of California, Santa Cruz.{{Cite web |title=Homepage · Seeds of Something Different: An Oral History of the University of California, Santa Cruz · Digital Exhibits UCSC Library |url=https://exhibits.library.ucsc.edu/exhibits/show/seeds/home |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=exhibits.library.ucsc.edu}} UCSC is one of only two UC campuses to have an oral history projected dedicated to covering the history of the area around the university and the university itself.{{Cite web |date=2012-08-28 |title=Centers and Collections - Oral History Association |url=https://oralhistory.org/centers-and-collections/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=oralhistory.org |language=en-US}}

Planning the new UC campus was just as hard as picking the site. The first plan was to build the campus on what is now the Great Meadow, so it would be close to the existing city of Santa Cruz.{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=246|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA246|access-date=12 August 2020}} The second plan, conceived by Thomas Church, put the colleges into the redwood forest at the top of the hill above the Great Meadow. This was clearly the better idea, but presented the problem of how to place the colleges inside the forest. The original design for College One (Cowell College) scattered its buildings among the trees, which was sarcastically compared by one regent to "a series of motels on the shores of Lake Tahoe." Having recently visited Aigues-Mortes, UC President Clark Kerr was inspired by the layout of that French medieval town to suggest concentrating each college's buildings into distinct clusters in the forest, and that is how UC Santa Cruz was actually built.{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=247|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA247|access-date=12 August 2020}}

Construction started by 1964, and the university was able to accommodate its first students (albeit living in trailers on what is now the East Field athletic area) in 1965. The campus was intended to be a showcase for contemporary architecture, progressive teaching methods, and undergraduate research.{{cite web| title = Santa Cruz: Historical Overview| work = University of California History Digital Archives| publisher = Regents of the University of California| date = June 18, 2004| url = http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~ucalhist/general_history/campuses/ucsc/overview.html| access-date = February 19, 2010| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090612233818/http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~ucalhist/general_history/campuses/ucsc/overview.html| archive-date = June 12, 2009| df = mdy-all}}{{Cite book| last = Stadtman | first = Verne A.| title = The Centennial Record of the University of California, 1868–1968| publisher = Regents of the University of California | year = 1967| url = http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb&brand=calisphere| chapter = Santa Cruz | pages= 503–504| chapter-url = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div01036&toc.depth=1&toc.id=div01036&brand=calisphere | access-date =February 19, 2010}}{{Cite news| last = Burchyns | first = Tony| title = It's been 45 years since UCSC was founded – and Santa Cruz was irrecoverably changed| newspaper = Santa Cruz Sentinel| publisher = MediaNews Group| date = June 25, 2006| url = http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=39666| access-date =February 19, 2010}} According to founding chancellor Dean McHenry, the purpose of the distributed college system was to combine the benefits of a major research university with the intimacy of a smaller college.{{Cite journal| last = Burns| first = Jim| title = Dean E. McHenry, founding chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, dies at 87| journal = Currents| volume = 2| issue = 30| publisher = University of California Santa Cruz| date = March 17, 1998| url = http://www.ucsc.edu/oncampus/currents/97-98/03-23/release.html| access-date = February 19, 2010}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite news| last = Burchyns | first = Tony| title = Unlike its nondescript past, UC Santa Cruz's future takes center stage| newspaper = Santa Cruz Sentinel | publisher = MediaNews Group| date = July 2, 2006 | url = http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=39839| access-date =February 19, 2010}} Kerr shared a passion with former Stanford roommate McHenry to build a university modeled as "several Swarthmores" (i.e., small liberal arts colleges) in close proximity to each other.{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA261|access-date=20 July 2020}} Both men were well aware that Santa Cruz "was located in the shadow not only of Berkeley but also of Stanford, and was bound to remain in their shadows for a very long time to come and perhaps forever."{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=265|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA265|access-date=20 July 2020}} Therefore, they hoped to shape a "distinctive personality" for the Santa Cruz campus and let it "flourish as first rate within its own type."

In his memoirs, Kerr ruefully recounted the myriad errors made by himself and McHenry in launching the new campus. They had created Santa Cruz as the "most experimental" of the UC campuses, but opened it just in time for their cherished "Santa Cruz dream" to die amidst the counterculture of the 1960s. Santa Cruz quickly became the "counterculture campus" where students and faculty either "mellowed out" among the redwood trees or turned into "activist-radical[s]".{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=282|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA282|access-date=12 August 2020}} For example, when Kerr came to deliver an address at UC Santa Cruz's first commencement exercises in 1969, the ceremony was hijacked by students who denounced Kerr and McHenry for having "planned and created Santa Cruz as a capitalist-imperialist-fascist plot to divert the students from their revolution against the evils of American society and, in particular, against the horrors of the Vietnam War."{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=286|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA286|access-date=12 August 2020}} The students then tried to award an honorary degree to Huey P. Newton (who was in jail at the time, although he went on to earn his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees at Santa Cruz). Kerr later recalled this episode of "guerrilla theatre" as "one of the worst afternoons of my life."{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=287|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA287|access-date=12 August 2020}}

According to Kerr's account, during the 1970s, the quality of UC Santa Cruz's incoming freshman classes deteriorated as Me generation students increasingly chose to matriculate at less experimental UC campuses in order to major in subjects such as engineering and business administration (both absent from Santa Cruz).{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA283|access-date=12 August 2020}} Another major factor behind the decrease in quality was a series of "grisly murders" around Santa Cruz, which at the time was labeled the "murder capital of the world".{{cite news |last1=Dowd |first1=Katie |title='Murder capital of the world': The terrifying years when multiple serial killers stalked Santa Cruz |url=https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/santa-cruz-kemper-mullin-frazier-murders-12841990.php |access-date=14 October 2020 |work=SFGate |publisher=Hearst Communications|date=19 April 2018}} The average SAT scores of UC Santa Cruz's incoming students dropped from 1250 in the early 1970s to 1050 by the early 1980s.

A series of major reforms were implemented by Chancellor Robert Sinsheimer (1977–1987) at the cost of making Santa Cruz less experimental and more conventional.{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=284|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA284|access-date=12 August 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=David G. |title='60s School Strives for '80s Image |work=Los Angeles Times |date=23 November 1984 |page=1}} Available through ProQuest Historical Newspapers.{{cite news |last1=White |first1=Dan |title=An indelible mark |url=https://magazine.ucsc.edu/2017/10/an-indelible-mark/ |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=UC Santa Cruz Magazine |publisher=Regents of the University of California |date=October 2017}} In 1981, after a two-year battle, the faculty narrowly voted to give students the option of receiving grades for the first time, in lieu of Santa Cruz's traditional narrative evaluations. By the fall of 1984, 45% of Santa Cruz students were already majoring in the sciences, and that year, the campus offered computer engineering as a major for the first time (in order to take advantage of its proximity to Silicon Valley), followed by business economics a year later. In May 1985, Sinsheimer, a molecular biologist, welcomed several scientists to Santa Cruz for one of the first meetings at which the idea of a Human Genome Project was discussed.{{cite journal |last1=Berg |first1=Paul |title=Origins of the Human Genome Project: Why Sequence the Human Genome When 96% of It Is Junk? |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=October 2006 |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=603–605 |doi=10.1086/507688 |pmid=16960796 |pmc=1592577 }}

Sinsheimer got Santa Cruz involved in intercollegiate athletics for the first time as part of NCAA Division III. In 1981, he supported student athletes' preference for the sea lion as the campus mascot, but was forced to back down in 1986 when the student body voted to support the banana slug instead.

By the early 1990s, the campus was still inefficient in that average teaching loads were still light compared to other UC campuses, but SAT scores had stopped falling, the faculty was performing good research, and the campus was beginning to rise in university rankings. In 1997, an engineering school was finally launched.

In 2019, the University of California, Santa Cruz was elected to the Association of American Universities (AAU), the most prestigious alliance of American research universities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aau.edu/newsroom/press-releases/three-leading-research-universities-join-association-american-universities|title = Three Leading Research Universities Join the Association of American Universities (AAU)}} Along with UCI, UC Santa Cruz was the youngest university to gain admittance to the AAU.{{Cite web|url=https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-santa-cruz-joins-association-american-universities|title = UC Santa Cruz joins Association of American Universities|date = November 6, 2019}}

{{Main|2020 Santa Cruz graduate students' strike}}

On December 9, 2019, over 200 graduate student-workers initiated a wildcat strike by withholding Fall quarter grades with the following demands: (1) a COLA (cost of living adjustment) of $1,412/month to address the housing crisis in Santa Cruz, (2) a promise of non-retaliation against those participating in the strike, and (3) a cap on tuition for undergraduate students, to ensure that the increase in graduate student-worker pay would not increase the rent-burden and precarity of their students.{{Cite web|url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/01/08/more-than-12000-fall-grades-missing-as-strike-continues-at-uc-santa-cruz/|title = More than 12,000 fall grades missing as strike continues at UC Santa Cruz|date = January 9, 2020}} On February 10, 2020, graduate student-workers responded to disciplinary threats from UCSC administrators with a full teaching strike, including withholding grades.{{Cite web|url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/02/10/ucsc-graduate-students-go-on-strike/|title=UCSC graduate students go on strike|date=February 11, 2020}} UCSC administrators' called in police from various counties. 17 students were arrested, and several were injured, but UCSC denied the claims of police brutality and excessive force.{{Cite web|url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/02/12/at-least-17-arrests-as-ucsc-students-stand-off-against-police/|title = UCSC students tangle with police|website=Santa Cruz Sentinel| last1=Ibarra|first1=Nicholas|date = February 12, 2020}} On February 27, 2020, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara joined the strike.{{Cite web|url=https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/ucd-students-make-demands-as-support-grows-for-strike/|title = UCD students make demands as support grows for strike|date = February 16, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://keyt.com/news/education/2020/02/27/ucsb-graduate-students-strike-for-cost-of-living-adjustment/|title = UCSB graduate students strike for Cost-of-Living Adjustment|date = February 28, 2020}} On February 28, 2020, 54 graduate student-workers were terminated{{Cite web|url=http://triton.news/2020/02/breaking-uc-santa-cruz-graduate-students-on-strike-receive-termination-letter/|title=UC Santa Cruz Graduate Students on Strike Receive Termination Letter|date=February 28, 2020}} and continued strikes shut down the campus for at least one day the following week.{{Cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/03/06/cola4all-shuts-down-uc-santa-cruz |title=#COLA4ALL Shuts Down UC Santa Cruz |first=Colleen |last=Flaherty |publisher=Inside Higher Ed |date=March 6, 2020 |access-date=March 9, 2020}} The arrival of the COVID-19 Pandemic led to the end of the strike. On August 7, 2020, UCSC agreed to reinstate 41 graduate student-workers, allowing them to be rehired by their respective departments, while also agreeing to seal their disciplinary records and reinstate their funding guarantees.{{Cite web |last=Gurley |first=Lauren Kaori |date=2020-08-11 |title=UC Santa Cruz Reinstates 41 Graduate Students After Months-Long Strike |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/uc-santa-cruz-reinstates-41-graduate-students-after-months-long-strike/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=VICE |language=en-US}} In return, UAW, who represents UC graduate student-workers but did not authorize the strike at any point, agreed to drop complaints filed on behalf of the graduate student-workers. UCSC also granted graduate student-workers a $2,500 annual housing stipend, but did not grant the COLA adjustment or cap on tuition for undergraduate students.{{Cite news |last=Ibarra |first=Nicholas |date=August 13, 2020 |title=UCSC agrees to reinstate 41 grad students fired during wildcat strike |url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/08/13/ucsc-agrees-to-reinstate-41-grad-students-fired-during-wildcat-strike/ |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel}}

File:UCSC McHenry Library.jpgMcHenry Library]]

Although the city of Santa Cruz already exhibited a strong conservation ethic before the founding of the university, the coincidental rise of the counterculture of the 1960s together with the university's establishment fundamentally altered its subsequent development. Early student and faculty activism at UCSC pioneered an approach to environmentalism that greatly impacted the industrial development of the surrounding area.{{Cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=27810|title=35 years later, students' environmental report seems prescient|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 3, 2008|last=Seals|first=Brian|date=July 10, 2005}} The lowering of the voting age to 18 in 1971 led to the emergence of a powerful student-voting bloc.{{Cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=40020|title=1980s ushered in discussion of UCSC expansion that continues today |newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 2, 2008|date=July 9, 2006|last=Burchyns|first=Tony}} A large and growing population of politically liberal UCSC alumni changed the electorate of the town from predominantly Republican{{Cite news|last=Honig|first=Tom|title=Santa Cruz was once Reagan country|date=June 4, 2004|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel}} to markedly left-leaning, consistently voting against expansion measures on the part of both town and gown.

Plans for increasing enrollment to 19,500 students and adding 1,500 faculty and staff by 2020, and the anticipated environmental impacts of such action, encountered opposition from the city, the local community, and the student body.{{Cite news | last=Marshall | first=Carolyn | title=As College Grows, a City Is Asking, 'Who Will Pay?' | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/us/19campus.html | date=January 27, 2007 | newspaper=New York Times | access-date=January 16, 2008}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=40191|title=Tie-dyed philosophy majors of the past make way for pencil-protected science majors|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 2, 2008|date=July 16, 2006|last=Burchyns|first=Tony}} City voters in 2006 passed two measures calling on UCSC to pay for the impacts of campus growth. A Santa Cruz Superior Court judge invalidated the measures, ruling they were improperly put on the ballot. In 2008, the university, city, county and neighborhood organizations reached an agreement to set aside numerous lawsuits and allow the expansion to occur. UCSC agreed to local government scrutiny of its north campus expansion plans, to provide housing for 67 percent of the additional students on campus, and to pay municipal development and water fees.{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_10150203|title=Suits over UCSC growth settled: City, county, neighbors reach deal; university agrees to concessions over roads, water and housing|last=Bookwalter|first=Genevieve|date=August 9, 2008|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=September 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815200839/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_10150203|archive-date=August 15, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

George Blumenthal, UCSC's 10th Chancellor, intended to mitigate growth constraints in Santa Cruz by developing off-campus sites in Silicon Valley. The NASA Ames Research Center campus is planned to ultimately hold 2,000 UCSC students – about 10% of the entire university's future student body as envisioned for 2020.{{cite news | last= Krieger | first= Lisa M. | title= Think of UCSC as UC-Silicon Valley, new chancellor says | url= http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7044109 | newspaper= Mercury News | date= September 30, 2007 | access-date=October 28, 2007}}{{Cite journal | last=Mills | first=Kay | title=Changes at "Oxford on the Pacific," UC Santa Cruz turns to engineering and technology | url=http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0401/news0401-changesoxfordpacific.shtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010616185031/http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0401/news0401-changesoxfordpacific.shtml | url-status=usurped | archive-date=June 16, 2001 | journal=National Crosstalk | publisher=National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education | volume=9 | date=Spring 2001 | access-date=January 28, 2008 | issue=2}}

In April 2010, UC Santa Cruz opened its new $35 million Digital Arts Research Center; a project in planning since 2004.{{cite news| url = http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14986867?nclick_check=1| title = UCSC cuts ribbon on $35 million digital arts building| author = Megha Satyanarayana| date = April 29, 2010| access-date =May 3, 2010| newspaper = San Jose Mercury News

}}

The $72 million Coastal Biology Building officially opened on 21 October 2017 on the Coastal Science Campus.{{cite web|title=UC Santa Cruz to dedicate new Coastal Biology building on October 21|url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2017/10/coastal-biology-building.html|website=UC Santa Cruz News|access-date=October 15, 2017}} The new campus houses the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department and faculty interested in the study of ecology and evolution in ocean, terrestrial and freshwater environments.

File:UCSC & Santa Cruz Aerial view.jpg

File:UCSC Tree path.jpg

The {{convert|2000|acre|ha|adj=on}} UCSC main campus is located {{convert|75|mi|km}} south of San Francisco, in the Ben Lomond Mountain ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Elevation varies from {{convert|285|ft|m}} at the campus entrance to {{convert|1195|ft|m}} at the northern boundary, a difference of about {{convert|900|ft|m}}. The southern portion of the campus primarily consists of a large, open meadow, locally known as the Great Meadow. To the north of the meadow lie most of the campus' buildings, many of them among redwood groves. The campus is bounded on the south by the city's upper-west-side neighborhoods, on the east by Harvey West Park{{cite web|title=Parks and Recreation – Harvey West Park|url=http://www.santacruzparksandrec.com/parks/harvey.html|access-date=May 4, 2006|archive-date=May 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517184527/http://www.santacruzparksandrec.com/parks/harvey.html|url-status=dead}} and the Pogonip open space preserve,{{cite web|title=Parks and Recreation – Pogonip|url=http://www.santacruzparksandrec.com/parks/pogo.html|access-date=May 4, 2006|archive-date=May 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518085245/http://www.santacruzparksandrec.com/parks/pogo.html|url-status=dead}} on the north by Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park{{cite web|title=Henry Cowell Redwoods SP|url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=546|access-date=May 4, 2006}} near the town of Felton, and on the west by Gray Whale Ranch, a portion of Wilder Ranch State Park.{{cite web|title=Wilder Ranch SP|url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=549|access-date=May 4, 2006}}

The campus is built on a portion of the Cowell Family ranch, which was purchased by the University of California in 1961.{{Cite news |url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=11341|title=The original City on a Hill|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 5, 2008|last=Redfern|first=Cathy|date=September 2, 2001

}} The northern half of the campus property has remained in its undeveloped, forested state apart from fire roads and hiking and bicycle trails. The heavily forested area has allowed UC Santa Cruz to operate a recreational vehicle park as a form of student housing since 1984.{{cite web| title=UC Santa Cruz – University Family Student Housing| url=http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/sponsored-housing/rv-index.html| access-date=October 27, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026004728/http://housing.ucsc.edu/sponsored-housing/rv-index.html| archive-date=October 26, 2006| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}} However in 2024 UCSC announced the closure of this park, known as the camper park, due to rising concerns about fire safety, along with mold issues and rising maintenance requests that had created an unsafe situation in the park.{{Cite web |last=Ojeda |first=Hillary |date=2024-07-11 |title=UCSC Camper Park sudden closure: New housing pickle as campus recycles 41 trailers |url=https://lookout.co/ucsc-suddenly-closes-camper-park/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Lookout Santa Cruz |language=en-US}} In 2017 the University finished building the Coastal Science Facility for the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. The facility, equipped with teaching classrooms, labs and greenhouses, is located on McAllister Way.{{cite web|url=https://ims-new.ucsc.edu/facilities/coastal-science-campus/index.html|title=Coastal Science Campus Facilities|access-date=June 4, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604092728/https://ims-new.ucsc.edu/facilities/coastal-science-campus/index.html|url-status=dead}} In the same year, renovations to the campus' Quarry Amphitheater were completed.{{Cite news |last=Burns |first=Delphine |date=September 11, 2018 |title=Newly renovated UC Santa Cruz Quarry Amphitheater opens to public |url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20171010/newly-renovated-uc-santa-cruz-quarry-amphitheater-opens-to-public/ |url-access=subscription |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel}}

File:Bridge across ravine at UCSC.jpg

A number of shrines, dens and other student-built curiosities are scattered around the northern campus. These structures, mostly assembled from branches and other forest detritus, were formerly concentrated in the area known as Elfland, a glen the university razed in 1992 to build colleges Nine and Ten. Students were able to relocate and save some of the structures, however.{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8888134|title='An Unnatural History of UCSC' traces the evolution of a magical campus setting – Santa Cruz Sentinel|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 13, 2008|access-date=April 12, 2008|last=Baine|first=Wallace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413062824/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8888134|archive-date=April 13, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDF173AF931A25752C0A964958260

|title=CAMPUS LIFE: California, Santa Cruz; Redwood Haven Inspires Battle Over an Elfland|work=The New York Times|date=January 12, 1992|access-date=April 12, 2008}}

Creeks traverse the UCSC campus within several ravines. Footbridges span those ravines on pedestrian paths linking various areas of campus. The footbridges make it possible to walk to any part of campus within 20 minutes in spite of the campus being built on a mountainside with varying elevations.{{cite web | title=UCSC Walking Map | url=http://maps.ucsc.edu/cdwalkingmap.html |access-date=March 15, 2011 |archive-date=September 1, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901143913/http://maps.ucsc.edu/cdwalkingmap.html }} At night, orange lights illuminate the occasionally fogged-in paths.{{cite web | title=Flickr: Oaks Path Night | date=October 15, 2005 | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/exitfromreality/55520898/ |access-date=March 15, 2011}}

There are a number of natural points of interest throughout the UCSC grounds. The "Porter Caves" are a popular site among students on the west side of campus. The entrance is located in the forest between the Porter College meadow and Empire Grade Road. The caves wind through a set of caverns, some of which are challenging, narrow passages. Tree Nine is another popular destination for students. A large Douglas fir spanning approximately {{convert|103|ft|m}} tall, Tree Nine is located in the upper campus of UCSC behind College Nine. The tree had been a popular climbing spot for many years but due to environmental corrosion and fear of student injuries, UC ground services sawed off the limbs to make it nearly impossible to climb.Tovin Lapan, [http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_16240649 "UCSC attempts to stop students from climbing campus favorite 'Tree Nine' "] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520114146/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_16240649 |date=May 20, 2013 }} Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 3, 2010 Less experienced tree-climbers also used to frequent Sunset Tree located on the east side of the meadow behind the UCSC Music Center, but the lower branches of this tree were also cut off to make climbing the tree difficult.{{cite web|url=http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~es10/fieldtripUCSC/index.html|title=UCSC Campus Field Trip|date=April 17, 2001|access-date=November 15, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010417170443/http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~es10/fieldtripUCSC/index.html|archive-date=April 17, 2001|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~es10/fieldtripUCSC/cave.html|title=Empire Cave|date=April 20, 2001|access-date=November 15, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010420140510/http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~es10/fieldtripUCSC/cave.html|archive-date=April 20, 2001|df=mdy-all}}

The UCSC campus is also one of the few homes to Mima Mounds in the United States. They are rare in the United States and in the world in general.

{{clear}}

{{wide image|Panorama of Great Meadow, UCSC.jpg|1250px|Panorama of Great Meadow.}}

File:UCSC farm rows.jpg

The university has 5 academic divisions and 1 School (In parentheses their founding): Arts (2017), Social Sciences (2017), Humanities (2017), Graduate Studies (2017) Physical & Biological Sciences (2017), and Baskin School of Engineering (1997). Together, they offer 66 graduate programs, 74 undergraduate majors, and 43 minors.{{cite web|title=UC Santa Cruz – Academic Programs|url=http://www.ucsc.edu/academics/|access-date=August 28, 2020}}

Popular undergraduate majors include Art, Business Management Economics, Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Physics, and Psychology.{{cite web

|title=University of California, Santa Cruz (Statistics)|work=The Princeton Review|url=http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023551<id=1&intbucketid=

|access-date=June 29, 2006}} (Note: Registration required)

Interdisciplinary programs, such as Computational Media, Feminist Studies, Environmental Studies, Visual Studies, Digital Arts and New Media, Critical Race & Ethnic Studies, and the History of Consciousness Department are also hosted alongside UCSC's more traditional academic departments.

A joint program with UC Hastings enables UC Santa Cruz students to earn a bachelor's degree and Juris Doctor degree in six years instead of the usual seven. The "3+3 BA/JD" Program between UC Santa Cruz and UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco accepted its first applicants in fall 2014.{{cite web|url=http://3plus3.ucsc.edu/|title=3 Plus 3|website=3plus3.ucsc.edu|access-date=November 15, 2017|archive-date=July 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710054911/https://3plus3.ucsc.edu/|url-status=dead}} UCSC students who declare their intent in their freshman or early sophomore year will complete three years at UCSC and then move on to UC Hastings to begin the three-year law curriculum. Credits from the first year of law school will count toward a student's bachelor's degree. Students who successfully complete the first-year law course work will receive their bachelor's degree and be able to graduate with their UCSC class, then continue at UC Hastings afterwards for two years.

File:BaskEng1Entr.JPG

File:BaskEng1Eng2Plza.JPG

According to the National Science Foundation, UC Santa Cruz spent $203.883 million on research and development in 2023, ranking it 138th in the nation.{{Cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysource&ds=herd |access-date=April 28, 2025 |website=National Science Foundation}}

Although designed as a liberal arts-oriented university, UCSC quickly acquired a graduate-level natural science research component with the appointment of plant physiologist Kenneth V. Thimann as the first provost of Crown College. Thimann developed UCSC's early Division of Natural Sciences and recruited other well-known science faculty and graduate students to the fledgling campus.{{cite web|url=http://library.ucsc.edu/library/reg-hist/thimann.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714160609/http://library.ucsc.edu/library/reg-hist/thimann.pdf|archive-date=July 14, 2006|title=Kenneth V. Thimann: Early UCSC History and the Founding of Crown College|last=Jarrell|first=Randall|year=1997|work=Regional History Project|publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz|pages=11–34|access-date=May 14, 2009}} Immediately upon its founding, UCSC was also granted administrative responsibility for the Lick Observatory, which established the campus as a major center for astronomy research.{{cite web|url=http://library.ucsc.edu/reg-hist/clark|title=Donald T. Clark: Early UCSC History and the Founding of the University Library|last=Jarell|first=Randall|year=1993 |work=Regional History Project|publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz|pages=76–81|access-date=May 14, 2009}} Founding members of the Social Science and Humanities faculty created the unique History of Consciousness graduate program in UCSC's first year of operation.{{cite web|url=http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p265101coll13/id/3700|title=Dean E. McHenry: Founding Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Volume II: The University of California, Santa Cruz: Its Origins, Architecture, Academic Planning, and Early Faculty Appointments, 1958–1968|last=Calciano|first=Elizabeth Spelding|year=1974|work=Regional History Project|publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz|pages=298–305|access-date=October 31, 2013|archive-date=November 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102114450/http://digitalcollections.ucsc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p265101coll13/id/3700|url-status=dead}}

UCSC's organic farm and garden program is the oldest in the country, and pioneered organic horticulture techniques internationally.

{{cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=28428|title=Country's oldest organic school hails from UC Santa Cruz|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 8, 2008|last=Ragan

|first=Tom|date=July 31, 2005}}{{cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=20436|title=Apprentices spread UC farm techniques far and wide|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel

|access-date=February 8, 2008|last=Kreiger|first=Kathy|date=October 10, 2002}}

As of 2025, UCSC's faculty include 16 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 29 fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 recipients of the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, and 49 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.{{Cite web |title=Achievements, Facts, and Figures – UC Santa Cruz |url=https://www.ucsc.edu/about/achievements-facts-and-figures/ |access-date=2025-04-28 |language=en-US}} The Baskin School of Engineering, founded in 1997{{Cite web |title=Baskin School of Engineering – Baskin Engineering provides unique educational opportunities, world-class research with an eye to social responsibility and diversity. |url=https://engineering.ucsc.edu/ |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=engineering.ucsc.edu}} is UCSC's first and only professional school{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}. Baskin Engineering is home to several research centers, including the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering{{cite web|url=http://www.cbse.ucsc.edu/|title=Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz}} and Cyberphysical Systems Research Center, which are gaining recognition, as has the work that UCSC researchers David Haussler and Jim Kent have done on the Human Genome Project,{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/07/07/MN28840.DTL|title=UC Santa Cruz Puts Human Genome Online, Programming wizard does job in 4 weeks|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=August 7, 2000|access-date=February 4, 2008|last=Abate|first=Tom}}{{cite news

|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E4DE1E31F930A25751C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=Reading the book of life; Grad Student Becomes Gene Effort's Unlikely Hero|work=The New York Times|date=February 13, 2001|access-date=April 15, 2008|last=Wade|first=Nickolas}} including the widely used UCSC Genome Browser.{{cite web |url=http://genome.ucsc.edu/|title=UCSC Genome Browser|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz}} Also associated with the Baskin School is the off-campus Westside Research Park. UCSC administers the National Science Foundation's Center for Adaptive Optics.{{cite web|url=http://cfao.ucolick.org|title=Center for Adaptive Optics|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010 |location=Santa Cruz}}

Off-campus research facilities maintained by UCSC include the Lick and Keck Observatories, the Long Marine Laboratory, and the Westside Research Park. From September 2003 to July 2016, UCSC managed a University Affiliated Research System (UARC) for the NASA Ames Research Center under a task order contract valued at more than $330 million.{{cite web|title=UARC|url=http://uarc.ucsc.edu|access-date=November 25, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503011214/http://uarc.ucsc.edu/|archive-date=May 3, 2007|df=mdy-all}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes_NU = 187

| USNWR_NU = 84 (tie)

| Wamo_NU = 118

| WSJ_NU = 253

| QS_W = 393 (tie)

| THE_W = 201–250

| USNWR_W = 129

| ARWU_W= 151–200

}}

{{col-break}}

{{col-break}}

{{col-end}}

UC Santa Cruz was ranked 129th in the list of Best Global Universities and tied for 82nd in the list of Best National Universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report{{'}}s 2024 rankings.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-california-santa-cruz-1321 |title=University of California--Santa Cruz |magazine=U.S. News & World Report}} In 2021, UC Santa Cruz was ranked the No. 3 public university in the nation for "making an impact" and No. 4 for promoting social mobility. In 2023, the university was ranked No. 5 in game/simulation development and No. 2 among the best public game design colleges in the U.S.{{Cite web |title=Achievements |url=https://www.ucsc.edu/about/achievements/index.html |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=www.ucsc.edu}}

UC Santa Cruz was ranked top 10 in excellence in undergraduate teaching in 2022 and third in research influence in 2018.

In 2017 Kiplinger ranked UC Santa Cruz 50th out of the top 100 best-value public colleges and universities in the nation, and 3rd in California.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/index.php |magazine=Kiplinger's Personal Finance |title=Kiplinger's Best Values in Public Colleges - 2017 |date=December 2016}} Money Magazine ranked UC Santa Cruz 41st in the country out of the nearly 1500 schools it evaluated for its 2016 Best Colleges ranking.{{cite magazine|title=MONEY's Best Colleges |url=http://new.time.com/money/best-colleges/rankings/best-colleges/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711211842/http://new.time.com/money/best-colleges/rankings/best-colleges/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2016 |magazine=Money|date=2016}} In 2016–2017, UC Santa Cruz was rated 146th in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In 2016 it was ranked 83rd in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities and 296th worldwide in 2016 by the QS World University Rankings.

In 2009, RePEc, an online database of research economics articles, ranked the UCSC Economics Department sixth in the world in the field of international finance.{{cite web|title=Economics web site ranks UCSC sixth in the world for research on international finance|url=http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=3363|access-date=November 12, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528041409/http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=3363|archive-date=May 28, 2010|df=mdy-all}} In 2007, High Times magazine placed UCSC as first among US universities as a "counterculture college".{{cite web|title=UCSC ranked 1st in High Times 2007|url=http://hightimes.com/news/ht_admin/3637|access-date=October 14, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920125855/http://hightimes.com/news/ht_admin/3637|archive-date=September 20, 2008|df=mdy-all}} In 2009, The Princeton Review (with GamePro magazine) ranked UC Santa Cruz's Game Design major among the top 50 in the country.{{cite web|title=UCSC ranked in top 50 for Game Design |url=http://www.princetonreview.com/game-design.aspx|access-date=November 5, 2010}} In 2011, The Princeton Review and GamePro Media ranked UC Santa Cruz's graduate programs in Game Design as seventh in the nation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/game-design|title=2019 Top Game Design Programs|website=www.princetonreview.com}} In 2012, UCSC was ranked No. 3 in the Most Beautiful Campus list of Princeton Review.Franek, Robert. The Best 376 Colleges, 2012 Edition. The Princeton Review. Print.

The undergraduate program, with only the partial exception of those majors run through the university's Baskin School of Engineering, is still based on the version of the "residential college system" outlined by Clark Kerr and Dean McHenry at the inception of their original plans for the campus (see History, above). Upon admission, all undergraduate students have the opportunity to choose one of ten colleges, with which they usually stay affiliated for their entire undergraduate careers.

{{cite web|title=UCSC General Catalog 2004–2006 (The Colleges section)|access-date=June 29, 2006|url=http://reg.ucsc.edu/catalog/html/04_06colleges.htm

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060627051850/http://reg.ucsc.edu/catalog/html/04_06colleges.htm |archive-date = June 27, 2006}}

There are cases where some students switch college affiliations as each college holds a different graduation ceremony. Almost all faculty members are affiliated with a college as well. The individual colleges provide housing and dining services, while the university as a whole offers courses and majors to the general student community. Other universities with similar college systems include Rice University and the University of California, San Diego.

Each of the colleges has its own, distinctive architectural style and a resident faculty provost, who is the nominal head of his or her college. An incoming first-year student will take a mandatory "core course" within his or her respective college, with a curriculum and central theme unique to that college. College resident populations vary from about 750 to 1,550 students, with roughly half of undergraduates living on campus within their college community or in smaller, intramural campus communities such as the International Living Center, Redwood Grove, Porter transfer community, and the Village. Coursework, academic majors and general areas of study are not limited by college membership, although colleges host the offices of many other academic departments. Graduate students are not affiliated with a residential college, though a large portion of their offices have historically tended to be based in the colleges. The ten colleges are, in order of establishment:

For the fall 2024 term, UCSC offered admission to 46,582 freshmen out of 71,700 applicants, an acceptance rate of 65.0%. The entering freshman class had an average high school GPA of 4.01, with the middle 50% range 3.87 to 4.22.{{Cite web |title=Freshman admit data {{!}} UC Admissions |url=https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses-majors/santa-cruz/freshman-admit-data.html |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=admission.universityofcalifornia.edu}}{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Abby |title=UC Santa Cruz poised to welcome diverse and talented cohort for fall 2024 |url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/07/admitted-fall-2024.html |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=UC Santa Cruz News |language=en}}

For most of its history, UCSC employed a unique student evaluation system. With the exception of the choice of letter grades in science courses the only grades assigned were "pass" and "no record", supplemented with narrative evaluations. Beginning in 1997, UCSC allowed students the option of selecting letter grade evaluations, but course grades were still optional until 2000, when faculty voted to require students receive letter grades. Students were still given narrative evaluations to complement the letter grades. {{As of|2010}}, the narrative evaluations were deemed an unnecessary expenditure. Still, some professors write evaluations for all students while some would write evaluations for specific students upon request.

{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/02/24/MN88561.DTL|title=UC Santa Cruz To Start Using Letter Grades|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=February 2, 2008|last=Schevitz|first=Tanya|date=February 24, 2000}} Students can still elect to receive a "pass/no pass" grade, but many academic programs limit or even forbid pass/no pass grading. A grade of C and above would receive a grade of "pass". Overall, students may now earn no more than 25% of their UCSC credits on a "pass/no pass" basis. Although the default grading option for almost all courses offered is now "graded", most course grades are still accompanied by written evaluations.{{cite web|title=UCSC Discover – Academics

|url=http://admissions.ucsc.edu/discover/faq/academics.cfm|access-date=June 29, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619125820/http://admissions.ucsc.edu/discover/faq/academics.cfm |archive-date=June 19, 2006}}

File:McHenry Library stacks, University of California Santa Cruz.jpg

The McHenry Library houses UCSC's arts and letters collection, with most of the scientific reading at the newer Science and Engineering Library. The McHenry Library was designed by John Carl Warnecke. In addition, the colleges host smaller libraries, which serve as quiet places to study. The McHenry Special Collections Library includes the archives of Robert A. Heinlein, the papers of Anaïs Nin, the papers and drawings of Beat poet Kenneth Patchen, the largest collection of Edward Weston photographs in the United States, the mycology book collection of composer John Cage, a large collection of works by Satyajit Ray, the Hayden White collection of 16th-century Italian printing, a photography collection with nearly half a million items, and the Mary Lea Shane Archives. The Shane Archives contains an extensive collection of photographs, letters, and other documents related to Lick Observatory dating back to 1870.{{cite web

|title=UCSC Special Collections—Introduction|url=http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll|access-date=May 4, 2006}}

A {{convert|82000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} new addition to the library opened on March 31, 2008, including a "cyber study" room and a Global Village café. The original {{convert|144000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} library reopened on June 22, 2011 after seismic upgrades and other renovations.{{cite web | title=A library for the 21st century: McHenry turns a page | url=http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=2474 | access-date=September 27, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129122454/http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=2474 | archive-date=January 29, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9050809|title=UCSC's McHenry Library gets a facelift steeped in 'green' design principles|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 25, 2008|access-date=April 25, 2008|last=Brown|first=J.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208215701/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9050809|archive-date=February 8, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} In total, the University Libraries contain over 2.4 million volumes.

In 2008, UCSC agreed to house the Grateful Dead archives at the McHenry Library.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/us/24grateful.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

|title=A Deadhead's Dream for a Campus Archive|work=The New York Times|date=April 24, 2008|access-date=April 24, 2008|last=McKinley|first=Jesse}}{{cite news

|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/23/DDML109ACN.DTL|title=Grateful Dead archives going to UC Santa Cruz|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 24, 2008

|access-date=April 24, 2008|last=McMahon|first=Regan}} Exhibits of Grateful Dead Archive materials are on display in the Brittingham Family Foundation's Dead Central Gallery on the 2nd Floor of McHenry Library. The Dead Central exhibit space is open during all library business hours. UCSC plans to devote an entire room at the library, to be called "Dead Central", to display the collection and encourage research.{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9036864|title=Slugs and Roses: Grateful Dead to donate memorabilia to UC Santa Cruz archives|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 24, 2008|access-date=April 24, 2008|last=Brown|first=J.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507185740/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9036864|archive-date=May 7, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The Grateful Dead Archive represents one of the most significant popular culture collections of the 20th Century and documents the band's activity and influence in contemporary music from 1965 to 1995.{{Cite web |title=About · Grateful Dead Archive Online · Grateful Dead Archive Online |url=https://www.gdao.org/about |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=www.gdao.org}} UCSC beat out petitions from Stanford and UC Berkeley to house the archives.{{Cite web |last=Neely |first=Christopher |date=2024-07-15 |title=Ask Lookout: How did the Grateful Dead's archive end up in Santa Cruz? |url=https://lookout.co/ask-lookout-how-did-the-grateful-deads-archive-end-up-in-santa-cruz/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Lookout Santa Cruz |language=en-US}} Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir said that UCSC is "a seat of neo-Bohemian culture that we're a facet of. There could not have been a cozier place for this collection to land."{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9050818|title=Grateful Dead says UC Santa Cruz proposed sweetest deal to store archives|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 25, 2008|access-date=April 25, 2008|last=Brown|first=J.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428232149/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9050818|archive-date=April 28, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The archive became open to the public July 29, 2012.

Most undergraduates are from California. The following tables show the ethnic and regional breakdown of the student body:

File:Student Union, UCSC.jpg

File:Quarry Plaza, UCSC.jpg

File:KZSC.jpg

File:UCSC 420 celebration.jpg

UCSC students are known for political activism. In 2005, a Pentagon surveillance program deemed student opposition to military recruiters on campus a "credible threat", the only campus antiwar action to receive the designation.{{Cite news|last=Kershaw|first=Sarah|title=A Protest, a Spy Program and a Campus in an Uproar|date=January 14, 2006

|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/national/14santacruz.html?ex=1137387600&en=0095f2ec7063c328&ei=5070|access-date=January 28, 2008}} In February 2006, Chancellor Denice Denton got the designation removed.{{Cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=36780|title=Pentagon removes UCSC from 'credible threat' list

|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=February 3, 2008|date=February 11, 2006|last1=Seals|first1=Brian|last2=Dunlap|first2=Tom}} Military recruiters declined to return to UCSC the following year, but returned in 2008 to a more low-keyed student reception and protests using elements of guerrilla theatre, rather than vandalism or physical violence.{{cite news

|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=48054|title=Military recruiters back out of UC Santa Cruz job fair|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 20, 2007|access-date=April 27, 2008 |last=Sideman|first=Roger}}{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9023663|title=Anti-war students disrupt career fair at UC Santa Cruz, but military recruiters stick around – Santa Cruz Sentinel|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 23, 2008|access-date=April 23, 2008|last=Brown|first=J.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522184223/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9023663|archive-date=May 22, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Thanks to students passing a $3 quarterly tuition increase to support buying renewable energy in 2006, UCSC is the sixth-largest buyer of renewable energy among college campuses nationwide.{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9167525|title=UCSC sixth-best college for green power|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=May 6, 2008|access-date=May 14, 2008|last=Brown|first=J.M.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507003202/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9167525|archive-date=May 7, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The Cesar Chavez Convocation is another example of student activism.

UC Santa Cruz is also well known for its cannabis culture. On April 20, 2007, approximately 2,000 UCSC students gathered at Porter Meadow to celebrate the annual "420". Students and others openly smoked marijuana while campus police stood by.{{Cite news|title=Thousands at UCSC burn one to mark pot holiday

|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=April 24, 2007|last=King|first=Matt|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=48183|access-date=October 18, 2013}} The once student-only event has grown since the city of Santa Cruz passed Measure K in 2006, an ordinance making marijuana use a low-priority crime for police. The 2007 event attracted a total of 5,000 participants. The university does not condone the gathering, but has taken steps to regulate the event and ensure security for all participants. On April 20, 2010, the school administration shut down the west entrance to campus and limited the number of buses that could drive through campus.{{Cite news|title=UCSC takes security measures for '4/20|date=April 18, 2008|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|last=Brown|first=J.M.|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8970788|access-date=April 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120091023/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8970788|archive-date=November 20, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9014404?source=most_viewed|title=Police: Pot-smoking event in UCSC meadow 'a moral slap in the face|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=April 23, 2008|date=April 22, 2008|last=Ragan|first=Tom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208215646/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_9014404?source=most_viewed|archive-date=February 8, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

On April 20, 2013, a student by the name of Gennady Tsarinsky was arrested for the possession of more than one ounce. Although a UCSC spokesperson could not confirm the exact weight of the joint possessed by Tsarinsky, it was estimated to be nearly three pounds.{{cite web | url=https://www.ksbw.com/article/huge-marijuana-joint-seized-at-uc-santa-cruz-4-20-celebration/1051540 | title=Huge marijuana joint seized at UC Santa Cruz 4/20 celebration | date=April 22, 2013 }}

Another well known tradition is what is known as "First Rain". Students run around campus naked or nearly naked to celebrate the school year's first night of heavy rain. The run begins at Porter and proceeds through all the other colleges, collecting more students in its parade.{{cite news|url=http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2006/10/12/a-naked-run-through-campus/

|title=A Naked Run Through Campus|work=City on a Hill Press|date=October 12, 2006|access-date=April 27, 2008|last=Moersen|first=Scott}}

The Student Union Assembly was founded in 1985 to better coordinate bargaining positions between students and administration on campus-wide issues.{{cite web|url=http://sua.ucsc.edu/

|title=Student Union Assembly|publisher=UC Santa Cruz|access-date=April 2, 2008}} All the residential colleges and six ethnic and gender-based organizations send delegates to SUA.

{{cite web|url=http://sua.ucsc.edu/orgs.php|title=Student Union Assembly, Orgs|publisher=UC Santa Cruz|access-date=April 2, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405184438/http://sua.ucsc.edu/orgs.php|archive-date=April 5, 2009|df=mdy-all}}

UCSC has around 200 recognized student organizations. These cover a wide variety of subjects and are registered to one of 12 focus areas, including religious, service, cultural, general interest, and academic.{{Cite web |title=Organizations |url=https://someca.ucsc.edu/organizations/index.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=someca.ucsc.edu}}

All student media organizations are funded by a student council referendum of $3.20 per student per quarter.{{cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=26638

|title=UC Santa Cruz students voice their desires through fee vote|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=May 29, 2005|access-date=April 2, 2008|last=Jondi|first=Gumz}}

• City on a Hill Press, a weekly publication that serves as the traditional campus newspaper
• Fish Rap Live!, the alternative, comedic paper
• TWANAS, the Third World and Native American Student Press Collective publishes issues about every quarter for various communities of color at UCSC. Its peak years were the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
• Student Cable Television (SCTV) disbanded at the beginning of the 2010 academic school year. On The Spot (OTS) replaced the defunct SCTV organization, continuing the student-run television opportunities. On The Spot airs on channel 28, only on campus.{{cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=47172|title=SCTV looks to the future: Students say lights, camera, action|publisher=scsextra.com|date=March 18, 2007|access-date=April 12, 2008|last=Blumenfield|first=Zoe}}
• The Moxie Production Group{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWslAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Moxie+Production+Group%22 |title=General Catalog |date=2008 |publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz |publication-date=2008 |pages=105 |language=en}}
• The Project, a quarterly paper, for UCSC's radical community
• The Disorientation Guide, published on sporadic years, introduces new students to UCSC's radical history and various political issues that face the campus and community.{{cite news

|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=42385|title=UCSC students aim to 'disorient' one another|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=October 8, 2006|access-date=April 12, 2008|last=Sideman

|first=Roger}}

• Rapt Magazine, a quarterly literary and arts magazine
• Leviathan Jewish Journal, a Jewish student life publication{{cite web|url=http://www.leviathanjewishjournal.com/ |title=Leviathan Jewish Journal – Leviathan Jewish Journal at UC Santa Cruz |publisher=Leviathanjewishjournal.com |date=2016-07-19 |access-date=2016-09-27}}
• On the Spot, a student-run broadcast media organization, produces a variety of shows including Press Center Live (sketch comedy), ART (music videos), and game shows.
• Banana Slug News, a television broadcast news program
• Chinquapin, a journal sponsored by the creative writing department{{cite web|url=http://chinquapin.ucsc.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030320064307/http://chinquapin.ucsc.edu/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 20, 2003|title=Chinquapin|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz}}
• Gaia Magazine, a magazine about environmental and sustainability subjects that is published once a year
• Red Wheelbarrow, a "literary arts" journal{{cite web|url=http://humanities.ucsc.edu/CWP/publications.html|title=Creative Writing Program Publications|publisher=University of California |access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz}}
• Matchbox Magazine, an annual humanities publication, started at UCSC, that operates across many UC campuses{{cite web|url=http://matchboxmagazine.com/|title=Matchbox Magazine|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221061821/http://matchboxmagazine.com/|archive-date=February 21, 2010|df=mdy-all}}
• EyeCandy, an annual student-run film journal associated with the Film and Digital Media department{{cite web |url=http://eyecandy.ucsc.edu/ |title=Eyecandy |publisher=Eyecandy.ucsc.edu |access-date=2016-09-27 |archive-date=January 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108144716/http://eyecandy.ucsc.edu/ |url-status=dead }}
• KZSC, the student-run campus radio station{{cite news|url=http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=39706|title=KZSC Radio turns up the juice — more powerful transmitter being installed|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=June 26, 2006|access-date=April 12, 2008|last=Sideman|first=Roger}}{{Cite web |date=2018-12-26 |title=KZSC Santa Cruz - From The Trees To The Seas, 88.1 FM |url=https://kzsc.org/ |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=kzsc.org |language=en-US}}
• Santa Cruz Indymedia, a local activist resource with a lot of UCSC content{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YqRAAAAIAAJ&q=Santa+Cruz+Indymedia+local+activist |title=Eye Candy: Film Journal at UCSC |date=2005 |publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz |pages=10 |language=en}}
• The Film Production Coalition, which produces films on a quarterly basis{{cite web|url=http://fpc.ucsc.edu/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828024453/http://fpc.ucsc.edu/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 28, 2008|title=The Film Production Coalition|publisher=University of California|access-date=February 20, 2010|location=Santa Cruz}}

9% of students in 2021 reported that they lack stable housing.{{Cite web |last=Matters |first=Local News |date=2022-05-30 |title=Town and gown struggle over student housing at UC Santa Cruz |url=http://localnewsmatters.org/2022/05/30/town-and-gown-struggle-over-student-housing-at-uc-santa-cruz/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Local News Matters |language=en-US}} UCSC continues to increase enrollment each year despite a lack of campus housing, leading to more students living off-campus and driving up rental prices in Santa Cruz.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-15 |title=UCSC Again Locks Legal Horns With City and County Over Campus Growth |url=https://www.goodtimes.sc/ucsc-again-locks-legal-horns-with-city-and-county-over-campus-growth/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Good Times |language=en-US}} On February 22, 2022, the city filed a lawsuit against UCSC claiming that the university's Long Range Development Plan and Environmental Impact Report do not account for a situation in which the university increases its student population without fulfilling its promise to double its campus housing capacity.

Greek life at UCSC includes, among other fraternities and sororities, Delta Lambda Psi, the nation's first gender-neutral queer Greek organization.{{cite web|url=http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/whatsnew/index.cfm?entryId=86CC0556-DDF7-2DE8-A1591D25B14DFC64|title=Kappa Alpha Theta - What's New - Kappa Alpha Theta Welcomes UC Santa Cruz!|website=Kappaalphatheta.org|access-date=2016-06-14}}

Students established the Student Environmental Center (SEC) in 2001, have held annual Earth Summits, and established a sustainability funding body, the Campus Sustainability Council. In 2004, the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices was released, stating that the University of California Office of the President was committed to minimizing its impact on the environment and reducing its dependence on non-renewable energy. In 2006, a Committee on Sustainability and Stewardship (CSS) was established and a campus-wide Sustainability Assessment was completed. The following year, the pilot Sustainability Office was created to help institutionalize sustainability, coordinate communication and collaboration between the many entities already engaged in campus sustainability activities at UCSC, support policy implementation, and serve as a resource for the campus.{{cite web|title=History of the Sustainability Office|url=http://sustainability.ucsc.edu/about/office/history|work=Sustainability Office|publisher=UCSC Sustainability Office|access-date=May 21, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607060403/http://sustainability.ucsc.edu/about/office/history|archive-date=June 7, 2012|df=mdy-all}}

{{Main|UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs}}

File:UCSC East Field.jpg

UCSC competes in Division III of the NCAA, mainly as a member of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C). There are fifteen varsity sports – men's and women's basketball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, swimming, cross country and diving, and women's golf. UCSC teams have been Division I nationally ranked in tennis, cross country, soccer, men's volleyball, and swimming. The men's water polo team was ranked 18th in the nation in 2006 and won the D3 national Championship, but in 2009 the team was discontinued due to budget cuts. UCSC maintains a number of club teams. It has won several club national championships in men's tennis, three in men's water polo and also a women's Division I championship in club rugby.

Due to mounting debt resulting from UCSC's athletic program, UCSC polled its students in 2016 on whether they would consider approving a quarterly fee that would support athletic operations. After polling showed support for a potential fee, a measure to introduce a quarterly fee passed in 2017 with 79% of voting students in favor.{{cite web |last1=Hern |first1=Scott |title=Athletics fee referendum passes |url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2017/05/athletics-fee.html |website=UC Santa Cruz News |publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz |access-date=7 January 2022 |language=en}}

{{Too many photos|section|date=February 2024}}

{{Main list|List of University of California, Santa Cruz people}}

Notable alumni of the University of California, Santa Cruz include co-founder of the Black Panther Party Huey P. Newton (BA 1974, PhD 1980), actress and comedian Maya Rudolph (BA 1995), founder of Huffington Post and BuzzFeed Jonah Peretti (BA 1996), filmmaker Cary Fukunaga (BA 1999), marine biologist and MacArthur Fellowship winner Stacy Jupiter (PhD 2006), acclaimed author and cultural theorist bell hooks (PhD 1983), author Geoffrey Dunn;{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/The-Lies-of-Sarah-Palin-by-Geoffrey-Dunn-2371743.php|title= The Lies of Sarah Palin by Geoffrey Dunn by William Howell |publisher= SF Gate |date= May 13, 2011 |accessdate=July 9, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://sociology.ucsc.edu/about/alumni.html |title= UCSC Alumni |publisher= UCSC |date= |accessdate=March 31, 2020}} musician Still Woozy (BA 2015), and several Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. Notable attendees include actor and comedian Andy Samberg and filmmaker Miranda July.

File:Andy Samberg by David Shankbone.jpg|Andy Samberg, actor, comedian, and musician

File:Bell hooks, October 2014.jpg|bell hooks, critically acclaimed author and cultural theorist, leading public intellectual

File:Cary Joji Fukunaga "Beast Of No Nation" at Opening Ceremony of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (21806112494) (cropped).jpg|Cary Fukunaga, film director, writer, and cinematographer

File:Ethan Klein (cropped).jpg|Ethan Klein, YouTuber, comedian, podcaster, and Internet personality

File:Gillian welch.jpg|Gillian Welch, singer and songwriter

File:Huey Newton HS Yearbook.jpeg|Huey P. Newton, political activist, revolutionary, and co-founder of the Black Panther Party

File:Jonah-peretti.jpg|Jonah Peretti, founder of Huffington Post and BuzzFeed

File:John Doolittle.jpg|John Doolittle, former member of the United States House of Representatives

File:John Laird Sd17 headshot (1).jpg|John Laird, former mayor of Santa Cruz and Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, and current California state senator

File:Kathryn D. Sullivan NOAA Leadership.jpg|Kathryn D. Sullivan, astronaut and former NOAA Administrator

File:Marc Okrand Saarbruecken 2019.JPG|Marc Okrand, linguist and creator of the Klingon language from Star Trek

File:Maya Rudolph.jpg|Maya Rudolph, actress and comedian

File:Reyna grande 2012.jpg|Reyna Grande, Mexican author

File:Stefano Bloch Faculty University of Arizona Geography, Tucson, USA 2021.jpg|Stefano Bloch, academic, graffiti artist, and author

File:Hawley-sa.jpg|Steven Hawley, astronaut and professor at the University of Kansas

File:Susan Wojcicki at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013 (cropped).jpg|Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube

File:Tod Machover JI1.jpg|Tod Machover, composer and professor at MIT Media Lab

File:DanaPriest.jpg|Dana Priest, Washington Post reporter, author, and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes

File:Joan Donoghue.jpg|Joan Donoghue, lawyer, international legal scholar, and former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

File:Nbs2009 02.jpg|Nicholas B. Suntzeff, cosmologist, professor of astronomy, and co-founder of the High-Z Supernova Search Team, which discovered dark energy

File:David Haussler 1.jpg|David Haussler, professor of biomolecular engineering and director of the Genomics Institute at UC Santa Cruz

File:Angela Davis at Oregon State University.jpg|Angela Davis, distinguished professor emerita of History of Consciousness, Communist Party vice presidential candidate twice

File:Kenneth V. Thimann.jpg|alt=Kenneth V. Thimann|Kenneth V. Thimann, plant physiologist and microbiologist, first provost of Crown College

File:Portrait of Tom Lehrer in c. 1957.jpg|Tom Lehrer, retired musician and satirist; lectured in American studies, Mathematics, and Musical Theater

File:Carol Greider by Chris Michel 1s946948-11-29.jpg|Carol W. Greider, distinguished professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology; Nobel Prize winner

File:Elliot Aronson 1972.jpg|Elliot Aronson, professor emeritus of psychology, author, creator of the Jigsaw Classroom model, and the only psychologist to win the American Psychological Association's highest honor in all three fields

File:Ralph Abraham.jpg|Ralph Abraham, professor emeritus of mathematics, founder of the Visual Mathematics Institute, and pioneer on chaos theory

File:Sandra-faber-barack-obama (cropped).png|Sandra M. Faber, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, helped develop the cold dark matter theory, member of the NAS, the AAAS, and the American Philosophical Society

File:Beth Shapiro - PopTech 2010 - Camden, Maine (5103086839) (cropped).jpg|Beth Shapiro, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, author, associate director for conservation genomics at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, Rhodes Scholar and MacArthur Grant fellow

File:Anna Tsing Aarhus Universitet.jpg|Anna Tsing, professor of anthropology, Guggenheim Fellow, and winner of the Niels Bohr professorship

• Shakespeare Santa Cruz
• University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum
• Notable Alumni and Faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz

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