Letter from Chancellor Cynthia Larive

UC Santa Cruz has always been a place where bold ideas, deep purpose, and a commitment to the public good come together. Since our founding more than 60 years ago, we have challenged expectations of what a public research university can be, pairing world-class discovery with an undergraduate experience rooted in mentorship, hands-on learning, creativity, and a determination to make a difference.

This past year marked an extraordinary moment in our history with the launch of Inspiring Change: The Campaign for UC Santa Cruz. The largest fundraising campaign our campus has ever undertaken, Inspiring Change will help fuel the aspirations and initiatives that are shaping our future, expanding opportunity for students, accelerating research with real-world impact, and strengthening our service to our region, state, and the world. Already, we have passed the halfway mark toward our $750 million campaign goal, a powerful testament to the confidence and generosity of the UC Santa Cruz community.

Across this report, you will see the many ways that momentum is taking shape. We took an important step toward addressing our region’s health-care needs through PRIME Central Coast, a partnership with UC Davis that will train future physicians who have a deep commitment to serving Central Coast communities. This effort builds on the growing strength of our Global and Community Health program and lays important groundwork for what we hope will one day become a medical school rooted in the needs of our region.

We also advanced our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and experiential learning by becoming the long-term steward of more than 200 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to our residential campus and Wilder Ranch State Park. This initiative, coupled with ongoing work to secure an additional 200-plus acres of farmland near our Coastal Science Campus, will expand opportunities for conservation, sustainable agriculture, research, and experiential learning while protecting a remarkable landscape for future generations.

Student success remains at the heart of our work, and this past year brought meaningful progress in our efforts to expand student housing. With the completion of the Delaware Apartments, the near-completion of Kresge College Renewal Phases 1 and 2 and the new Family Student Housing community, the groundbreaking of our joint project with Cabrillo College, and the recent Regental approval of Heller Student Housing South, we are making significant strides toward providing more students with stable, welcoming places to live. These efforts have allowed us to offer a two-year housing guarantee to incoming students, creating a stronger foundation for their academic and personal success. This has long been a campus goal.

Our research excellence also continues to earn global recognition. An analysis announced in the fall by Clarivate, a global information and analytics company, ranked UC Santa Cruz as the top public university in the United States for highly cited researchers and No. 5 in the world, reinforcing the extraordinary influence of our faculty and research community across disciplines.

And, of course, we celebrated something uniquely UC Santa Cruz: 40 years of the Banana Slug as our beloved mascot. The milestone reminded us that our campus spirit has always been distinctive, joyful, and proudly unconventional.

While the challenges facing higher education and the world around us are significant, I remain deeply optimistic about UC Santa Cruz’s future. Our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and friends continue to show what is possible when a community comes together around a shared belief in education, discovery, creativity, and service. With the Inspiring Change campaign now underway, we are building the resources, partnerships, and momentum to expand our impact for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Cindy

Cynthia Larive
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor