Join us as we celebrate this major milestone! Over the next year, we invite you to reflect on your experience at UC Santa Cruz as we share stories about alumni success, honor our history at signature campus events, and make new memories and groundbreaking discoveries.
Travel back in time
Get in the way-back machine and join us on a journey through the history of UC Santa Cruz, with callouts to some milestone moments of this extraordinary campus.
Stories from yesterday and today
The birth of UC Santa Cruz: Audacious and academic
The UC Santa Cruz campus began in 1965 as “the most significant educational experiment in the history of the University of California.”
Tearing down the walls
Pioneering UC Santa Cruz professors and staff challenged convention and traditional academics—helping reform American higher education.
Then and now: Meet some of our newest Slug alumni
UCSC takes immense pride in the remarkable achievements of our alumni, from those who graduated in our founding days to our most recent graduates. To illustrate the impact that Banana Slugs make on our world, we are proud to showcase the stories and achievements of UCSC’s Class of 2023.
Alumni through the eras
O sister!
From the summer 2001 UC Santa Cruz Review magazine: Gillian Welch (Porter ’90, art) followed up two successful albums with the ultra-popular soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Diversity’s superhero
From the spring 2017 UC Santa Cruz Magazine: Axel Alonso (Cowell ’87, sociology), editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 2011–2018, oversaw a world of superheroes and villains—but for Alonso, the business was also about reflecting a diverse and changing world.
Planting seeds of change
From the fall 2022 UC Santa Cruz Magazine: After Anushka Ratnayake (College Nine ’04, literature) learned about agricultural microfinancing and launched a nonprofit, she took the skills from her Santa Cruz education to farms across Africa.
Happenings
We’re celebrating six decades of making an impact with many events and festivities. There’s so much going on—we invite you to find occasions that appeal to you and join us!