On September 24th, students, faculty, staff and alumni at University of California (UC) schools participated in a day of coordinated walkouts and rallies in defense of the future of public education. Hundreds rallied at the base of the UC Santa Cruz campus to protest the privatization of the UC system, which includes student fee hikes, faculty and staff furloughs and layoffs, executive pay increases, and cuts to courses, programs and services. The University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) held a daylong strike at all UC schools, with pickets at the main and west entrances of UCSC from 6am–6pm.
Rallies took place at the base of UCSC, amplified courtesy of People Power!’s human-powered bicycle generator, at 12pm and 3:30pm. After the 3:30pm rally, students marched and occupied the intersection by the Bay Tree Plaza. From there, it was announced that a building occupation was underway, and people moved to the Bay Tree Plaza to support an ongoing inhabitation of the Graduate Student Commons. Read More and View Photos
For 30 years, Life Lab Science Program has been helping educators and students bring learning to life in the garden. Based in Santa Cruz, Life Lab has been a leader in the garden-based learning movement locally and across the nation.
On May 28th, students, staff, workers, and faculty rallied at the base of the UC Santa Cruz campus to protest the UC administration’s decision to cut Community Studies department staff, Latin American Latina/o Studies professors, and director positions at the American Indian Resource Center and the Women’s Center. The rally was organized by the New UC, a coalition that seeks to save quality of education in the UC from regressive, belt-tightening attacks, to ensure universal access to education, and to promote freedom of thought in the university.
Staying true to tradition, thousands of people celebrated Four Twenty in and around Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz on April 20th, 2009. Four Twenty (420) is a time of day when people smoke cannabis together. For that reason, April 20th has evolved into a counterculture holiday where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. Porter Meadow at UCSC has traditionally been the largest 420 gathering point around. Despite the restrictions established by the UCSC administration and police to curtail the unorganized convergence, people showed they were determined to celebrate Four Twenty, with friends and strangers, in the Porter Meadow. 
On December 13th, tree-sit spokespersyn Jennifer Charles, tree-sit supporter Dani Drake, and tree-sitter Sorrel, held a press conference at the base of UC Santa Cruz to read an official tree-sit statement. They also spoke personally about the tree-sit, ongoing struggle against UCSC’s expansion into Upper Campus and answered questions from the media, supporters and others in attendance.
