General Meetings
Community Connections Fall Gathering 2022
When we meet
We meet on a Wednesday of each month from October through May, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm unless otherwise stated below or on the calendar. These general membership meetings typically feature a speaker or program, as well as a light lunch. Our programs are open to members and guests. Scroll down to view the full academic year program.Where we meet
Meetings are held at the beautiful UCSC Arboretum, Horticulture Building II Classroom. Detailed directions to the Arboretum can be found on the UCSC Arboretum website. After entering the Arboretum, drive past the small kiosk on your left. The road will curve uphill. Follow the road to the right and park in the gravel parking lot. The Horticultural Building II Classroom and gardens are to your left. Park and walk toward the gardens where there are two nondescript entrance ways to gravel paths. Take the lower path with the wrought iron arbor, closest to the entrance to the parking lot. The path runs along another road that leads to two redwood buildings on your right. The larger building is the Horticulture II Classroom.
Potluck Lunch Instructions
Attendees are asked to contribute to the meeting lunches. Potluck instructions.
May 15, 2024, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Inn at Pasatiempo
UCSC Community Connections will honor the 2024 Scholarship Recipients at a festive luncheon.
Date and Time: Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Place: The Inn at Pasatiempo, 555 CA-17, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (next to Back Nine Grill and Bar)
Cost: $40.00 - includes a three-course plated lunch with vegetarian options
Program: Singing by Fiat Musica Choral Group; scholarship recipients speaking about their stories and studies
Invitations: Will be sent to UCSC Community Connections members; guests are welcome
Please register HERE by May 1
October 4, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Fall Gathering with Fiat Musica
Meet and greet with Community Connections members as we join together in the large classroom of the Horticultural Building II at the UCSC Arboretum for our first General Meeting. Learn about our interest groups and hear from our group participants. Fiat Musica, one of our Community Connections Interest Groups, will entertain us.
November 1 , 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - General Meeting with speakers from the UCSC Basic Needs Program
Speaker: Kednel Jean from the Basic Needs Program for Needy Students
Attendees may bring baskets or bags of toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, gift cards, etc.) to decorate the luncheon tables. Items will be donated to the Basic Needs Program.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/ 91816141015?pwd =NkdVTjJFMGx5WH JOVkN6R2hudnlYd z09
Meeting ID: 918 1614 1015
Passcode: 462464
UCSC Basic Needs Programs: Campus Food Insecurity Efforts
Basic Needs is defined as an ecosystem that supports financial stability by ensuring equitable access to nutritious and sufficient food; safe, secure, and adequate housing to sleep, study, cook, and shower; healthcare to promote sustained mental and physical well-being; affordable transportation; resources for personal hygiene care; and emergency needs for students with dependents.
With the support of on-campus and off-campus partnerships, UCSC has developed programs to fight food insecurity on campus.
The Center for Agroecology and Colleges, Housing and Educational Services have partnered to transform the Cowell Coffee Shop ino a non-transactional cafe and choice-based pantry. It serves as a cafe designed to increase student food access and support with basic needs resources. The Center's basic needs collaborations seek to put together online curriculum, workshops, conversations around food insecurity, and cooking classes designed specifically around the UCSC food system.
The Redwood Free Market is a choice-based pantry and a basic needs hub. Through the partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank and the UCSC Farm, students receive fresh produce and pantry staples for free. Furthermore, CalFresh Application Assistance is provided for students who are eligible along with a Diaper Assistance Program for parenting students.
November 8, 2023 - Giving Day
Every dollar you donate to UCSC Community Connections on Giving Day will be matched up to $1000 to support our Re-entry Students!
December 17 - Fiat Musica Presents a Holiday Concert
Fiat Musica is the Community Connections choral group under the direction of Emily Sinclair, DMA, and UCSC Lecturer in Music and Voice. Fiat Musica will present an annual holiday concert at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 2402 Cabrillo College Drive, Soquel, CA at 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.
January 10, 2024, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - General Meeting with Speaker UCSC Police Chief Kevin Domby
Kevin Domby, newly appointed UCSC Chief of Police, will speak.Domby spent almost a decade teaching art, first as a high school art instructor and department chair in suburban Baltimore, Maryland. He later became an adjunct instructor and then a full-time instructor at the Baltimore County Community College. He made a career change, joining the California Highway Patrol (CHP). (Photo by Carolyn Lagattuta)
February 7, 2024, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - General Meeting with Speaker Gary Griggs, Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences, UCSC
Speaker Gary Griggs - Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at UCSCProfessor Griggs will speak on coastal climates.
A list of the 13 books and many essays written by Professor Griggs is located on his personal website. Book content descriptions are included.
March 6, 2024, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - General Meeting with Speaker Dr. Rachel Nelson, Director and Chief Curator of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Dr. Rachel Nelson will speak on "Curating for the Just Future."
Rachel Nelson, PhD, is director and chief curator of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz. With a deep commitment to art as a catalyst for social change, she works with world-renowned artists, scholars, and activists to develop art exhibitions and education programming engaging the most critical issues of our time, including incarceration, borders, and climate change. Nelson is co-director of two major public scholarship initiatives: “Visualizing Abolition,” an art-based project designed to shift the social attachment to prisons, and “An Aesthetics of Resilience,” an art and science collaboration focusing on climate change. She publishes widely on art and politics, including in Brooklyn Rail, NKA, Third Text, Savvy, and African Arts. Nelson is an adjunct professor in Visualizing Abolition Studies at UCSC.
For the lunch, please bring a potluck item to share.
April 3 - General Meeting with Speaker Rick Flores - 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Speaker Topic: "Amah Mutsun Relearning Program." Also, Rick Flores will offer tour of the garden. In addition to being the Arboretum's Associate Director, Rick Flores is Horticulturist and Steward of the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program (AMRP). His professional experience at the Arboretum is with California native plants, but currently he oversees the work of maintenaning all of the Arboretum's core plant collection displays. As Steward of the AMRP, Rick fosters the relationship between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Arboretum, oversees educational programming, and helps develop displays of culturally important native plants. In addition, Rick assists with fundraising and grant writing.
When not at the Arboretum, Rick enjoys hiking, backpacking, fishing, mountain biking, bird watching, and just generally being outdoors, in addition to spending time with family and friends.
Rick has worked at the Arboretum for over 25 years and holds both a B.A. and M.A. in Environmental Studies from UCSC.For the lunch, please bring a potluck item to share.
April 10 - UC InterCampus Exchange Day at UC Davis
*University Farm Circle, a UC Davis Friends Group, is hosting an INTERCAMPUS DAY – "MORE THAN JUST A FARM SCHOOL!" on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the UC Davis Campus.
University Farm Circle invites participants from Friends Groups at UC Berkeley, UC Merced, and UC Santa Cruz for a day of celebration, activity, communication, and exchange on the UC Davis Campus. The event marks the
110 th Birthday for Davis UFC.*Pictured is the new building, opened September 2023, which houses the Gorman Museum of Native American Art, UC Davis
May 15 - Scholarship Luncheon
UCSC Community Connections will honor the 2024 Scholarship Recipients at a festive luncheon
Date and Time: Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Place: The Inn at Pasatiempo, 555 CA-17, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Cost: $40.00 - includes a three-course plated lunch with vegetarian options
Program: Singing by Fiat Musica Choral Group; scholarship recipients speaking about their stories and studies
Invitations: Will be sent to UCSC Community Connections members; guests are welcome
Please register HERE by May 1
May 19 Performance by Fiat Musica
Choral group Fiat Musica, will perform at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 2402 Cabrillo College Drive, Soquel, CA, on Sunday, May 19, 7 p.m.The choral group will perform a variety of music for treble voices, from madrigals to the Beatles and beyond. Admission is free, but donations are accepted!
Fiat Musica is an interest group associated with UCSC Community Connections. If you're interested in singing with us, please contact Emily Sinclair at evsinclair@gmail.com
Spring Scholarship Luncheon
Fall 2023
Winter 2024
