The Student of Color Coalition (SOCC) is a collective of student of color organizers actively working for an equitable, more accessible higher education for all students. Comprised of student leaders, ethnic organizations, and concerned students of color, the coalition works to take back ownership over the system of higher education that has historically excluded/exploited communities of color. The coalition recognizes the particular struggle of students of color to access, engage, and retain themselves in an institution that has, through the use of institutionalized racism, undervalued, underutilized, and overlooked the importance of a diverse student body. The coalition asserts that as a public institution, it is the duty of the university to serve the public justly by reflecting the demographics of California.
Following a long legacy of student of color activism, and a thirty year long fight to maintain vital resources for students of color on this campus, the coalition asserts that students of color are valuable assets to the UCSC campus and must be treated by the university as such. During times of budget cuts and economic uncertainty, it is the duty of the university to prioritize those who are most immediately impacted, students of color from historically marginalized communities. It is the duty of the university to therefore, adequately fund, promote, and support resources for these students of color in order to maintain a healthy, diverse campus.
The Student of Color Coalition maintains the needs of students of color include but are not limited to access to effective outreach and retention programs which work to target marginalized communities, access to effective resource centers that work to address the needs of students of color as stated by students of color, people of color representation on all levels of administration, retention of faculty of color, decision making power in all proposed or actual budget cuts which effect student of color resources, and accountability and transparency by all UCSC administrators over all budget decisions.
The coalition holds the university accountable to its claim “To serve society as a center of higher learning, providing long-term societal benefits through transmitting advanced knowledge to all California students” (University of California Mission Statement). As active stakeholders in this institution of higher learning the Student of Color Coalition reclaims the university as a taskforce for creating a strong, diverse, and educated generation of leaders.
Send this petition to:
- Chancellor George Blumenthal
- Dean Sheldon Kamieniecki
- Executive Vice Chancellor David Kliger
- cc: UCSC SOCC
By signing this petition, I stand in solidarity with all of the demands presented by the Student Of Color Collective. We know that the University of California Santa Cruz has the means to meet these demands by the end of spring quarter of 2008-2009 and we expect these demands to be enacted immediately:
-Maintain academic integrity and current structure of Community Studies Dept. by keeping field study coordinators Mike Rotkin and Flor Marchetti and Department Manager Penny Stinson and not merging the department into Sociology.
-Retain both Latin American and Latino Studies lecturers Guillermo Delgado and Susan Jonas
-Make UCSC a sanctuary campus for undocumented communities
-UCSC openly and publicly support the state and Federal DREAM Act
-Permanent funding for Ethnic- Year-End Ceremonies from college C.A.O.s and Provosts
-Support Family Student Housing in receiving equitable rent for next year 09-10 funding (no rent increase)
-Fair transparent negotiations with workers and unions to ensure equitable pay, working condition and representation
-No layoffs!
-No worker deportations by ICE
-Freeze on Budget Cuts over the summer, while students are not present
Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]
