UC Santa Cruz

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

Different decades. Same Slug pride. 🎓🌲💛💙

As the Class of 2026 gets ready to graduate, we're throwing it back to the generations of Banana Slugs who walked before them.

📸 Image descriptions:
1- Black and white photo of a meadow with retro photos of UCSC graduates overlayed. Text reads: "Commencement Across the Decades"
2- A procession of graduates marching into the ceremony through the redwoods. One student gives the peace sign to the camera.Text reads: "1960s"
3- Black and white photo of a smiling graduate shakes hands with faculty while receiving their diploma. A large crowd sits in the background. Text reads: "1970s"
4- Black and white photo of a procession of graduations wait in line to approach the stage, holding name cards Text reads: "1980s"
5- Black and white photo of a graduate holding flowers poses for a photo with their family above the East Field. Text reads: "1990s"
6- Color photo of a graduate poses with and old school Sammy the Slug mascot who is doing the "shaka" with their hands. Text reads: "2000s"
7- Color photo of a graduate wearing multiple cultural stoles dances as they walk across the stage. Text reads: "2010s"
8- Color photo of a large group of excited graduates stand, applaud, and hold their newly award diplomas in the air. Text reads: "2020s"

Images Courtesy of UC Santa Cruz Special Collections

06/01/2026

Q***r and Trans people have always existed at UC Santa Cruz and they always will. Their stories matter. Documenting them ensures that future generations of Slugs can see themselves in UCSC’s history. 🌲🏳️‍🌈

In the early 2000s, oral historians at McHenry Library interviewed dozens of q***r and trans UCSC students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Out in the Redwoods, an oral history project documenting LGBTQIA+ life at UCSC from 1965-2003, preserves powerful and rarely told stories of joy, social justice, community, and pride.

This Pride month, and all year round, celebrate history by exploring the archive online through the McHenry Library Special Collections.

Images courtesy of UC Santa Cruz Special Collections.

05/29/2026

05/29/2026

“[I saw] a photograph of students walking to classes in the morning outside the Natural Sciences building. It was in the redwoods, there was fog, and it was dripping wet, and I just thought, that is paradise. That is just heaven.”

David Gleason (Merrill ‘70, Russian literature) transferred to UC Santa Cruz from Foothill College in 1968. Since then, he’s become a passionate advocate for the humanities and a longtime supporter of the Humanities Division and The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

After earning his degree at UCSC, David used critical skills from his humanities background to build an extraordinary career, which included working for Apple in the Soviet Union at one of the most pivotal moments in modern history.

Today, David remains a proud Banana Slug and dedicated member of our alumni community. In addition to supporting UC Santa Cruz through a charitable gift annuity, he has served on the Humanities Dean’s Council since 2017 and mentors students in our new HumLaunch summer program.

Read more about David’s story at the link in the comments.

05/28/2026

What tasks are uniquely human in the age of AI?

In "Body Proxy," an award-winning extended reality (XR) project co-produced by Baskin Engineering at UC Santa Cruz at UCSC Computational Media Assistant Teaching Professor Samantha Gorman at her creative studio Tender Claws, this question is explored through a satirical lens. The interactive experience tasks users with performing human rituals on behalf of fictional AI corporations, raising critical questions about tech-dependency and automation.

Inspired by a decade of research at the UCSC Expressive Intelligence Studio and recently showcased at SXSW 2026, this work invites people to interrogate the socio-technological shifts of our time.

05/13/2026

🧬 What if you could measure the health of a waterway from the genetic information contained in a single sample of water?

Now UC Santa Cruz is strengthening California’s efforts to protect its waterways and wildlife for generations to come—with a new $2.2M grant from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to create an eDNA-based "health index" for California’s streams. From the Mojave to the Redwoods, this technology helps us spot ecological declines before they become severe.

The future of conservation is here, and it’s written in the DNA of our waters.

05/07/2026

From the possibility of de-extincting the woolly mammoth to using ancient and environmental DNA to save today’s endangered species, the insights shared at the Sequence to Survival Symposium ignited new hope for the future of conservation. 🦣🧬

Huge thank you to keynote speaker and UC Santa Cruz professor Beth Shapiro and all our panelists, for sharing how genomic tools are becoming our best hope for preventing extinction. The future of biodiversity relies on this crucial DNA research.

Professors, faculty, students, and members of the community connected directly with researchers from top labs during live demonstrations and panel discussion.

04/28/2026

“I wanted to go back to my hometown and be a role model for the kids who remind me of the kid I used to be.” -Dr. Ramon Resa

Resa’s story is a beautiful reminder of how one person's dedication can transform a community. After growing up as a migrant farmworker, Ramon found his path at UC Santa Cruz, where he met his wife, Debora, and began a journey that would lead him back to the Central Valley as a beloved pediatrician.

Today, his legacy continues through his children, including his son, who followed in his footsteps to become a pediatrician, and the many students he inspires through his speaking engagements.
Join us in celebrating this local hero and UCSC alumnus!

Read more about Resa’s story at the link in the comments.

04/24/2026

Academic integrity policies are often written in ways that prioritize legal and punitive concerns over clarity, equity, and education. Greer Murphy is committed to changing that.

We are thrilled to announce that UCSC Director of the Academic Integrity Office Greer Murphy has received the 2026 Donald McCabe Research of the Year Award from the International Center for Academic Integrity. Her coauthored article, “Inconsistent Access, Uneven Approach: Ethical Implications and Practical Concerns of Prioritizing Legal Interests over Cultures of Academic Integrity,” highlights the importance of making academic policies more student-centered and more accessible.

This research challenges universities to cut through bureaucratic red tape. By analyzing 100 different academic integrity policies, Murphy advocates for a shift toward student-centered and equitable frameworks that prioritize education over punishment.

Learn more at the link in the comments.