Events & Activities
While each year brings new programs and events, we also celebrate long-standing traditions that help build community and connection.
Commencement
Commencement is a time to celebrate the achievements of our graduating students. At UC Santa Cruz, students participate in commencement ceremonies hosted by their college.
Event calendar
Stay up to date with upcoming events and activities. Check out our event calendar to see what’s happening.
CoCurricular Programs Office
The College Nine and John R. Lewis College CoCurricular Programs Office (“The CoCo”) offers a variety of events, classes, retreats, concerts, and clubs for students at C9/JRLC and beyond. Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to make friends and build community, develop their own style of leadership, build a robust set of career-ready, 21st Century skills, and express themselves through a wide range of projects and initiatives that enhance our community, explore the college theme, and provide opportunities for hands-on learning and development.
Our office supports student-driven programming that provides opportunities for learning and taking action on important local and global issues while exploring the college theme of Social Justice and Community. When you join the CoCo you will learn, contribute, grow, and teach. You will find community. Join us!
JRLC 85: Social Justice Issues Workshop
Social Justice Issues Workshop is a 2-unit, student-facilitated course in Winter Quarter that consists of a series of presentations, films, and workshops that address personal and cultural identity and examine social, cultural, political, environmental, and other justice concerns. The course creates a dynamic learning community, emphasizing small-group experiential learning as students build leadership skills and a learning community that develops their own culture of inquiry and exploration.
Students can apply to be a JRLC 85 facilitator and earn 5 units (that also fulfill the PR General Education requirement) in late Fall Quarter. To take JRLC 85, students can add the class during enrollment. For questions, please contact coco@ucsc.edu.
Practical Activism Conference
The Practical Activism Conference (PAC) is a day-long social justice conference led and organized by students from College Nine and John R. Lewis College, with the guidance of staff from the CoCurricular Programs Office. Student planners meet weekly in Fall and Winter Quarters, earning a total of 4-units that fulfill the PR General Education requirement.
To learn more about PAC and how to get involved, please visit the official PAC website.
Self-Care with the CoCo
The CoCo works to offer programs throughout the year that centers self-care for students. Programs include Slugs 4 Self-Care (S4SC) during Fall Quarter, weekly mindfulness and gentle yoga sessions with a local yoga instructor, and additional programs held throughout the year by our student team.
Social Justice Community Weekend (SJCW)
The Social Justice Community Weekend (formerly known as Multicultural Community Weekend or MCW) is a biannual overnight retreat for students interested in diving into our college’s themes to discover what social justice and community mean to them. Through a series of structured exercises and discussions, we will explore areas impacting our individual identities (e.g. race, class, sexual orientation, gender), the John R. Lewis College community, and our society as a whole.
The next SJCW retreat will be during the 2025-2026 academic year. Learn more about how to apply for SJCW here and visit the College Nine website to learn about Intercultural Community Weekend — an overnight retreat centered around College Nine’s themes of International and Global Perspectives (happening during Winter 2025).
Work with the CoCo!
The CoCo offers two different student positions for John R. Lewis College students: the Student Programs Coordinator (SPC) and Social Justice CoCurricular Programs Intern (through the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program).
CoCo SPCs create programs centered around College Nine and John R. Lewis College’s themes, in addition to supporting other college-wide programming and collaborations. Previous student programs include the Pass the Plate zine and meal kits, Latin Dance Night, and Self-Love in Bloom pop-ups. This is an hourly position, with most students working an average of 10 hours per week. SPC applications for the following academic year will open in Spring Quarter and be posted on Handshake.
While the Social Justice CoCurricular Programs Intern also supports CoCo and college-wide programming, the John R. Lewis College CUIP works with the College Nine CUIP to host Slugs 4 Self-Care (S4SC) during Fall Quarter, leads the JRLC 85 student facilitators in Winter Quarter, and spends Spring Quarter creating a program of their choosing. CUIPs earn an $5,500 scholarship, with applications for the following academic year open January-February on the CUIP website.
Activities Office
The College Nine and John R. Lewis College Activities Office plans programs and activities for students that offer opportunities to participate in a vibrant College Nine community. From Fall Orientation and Welcome Week activities to Graduation and Commencement Exercises, the Programs and Activities Office engages students from their first days as new students to their last days as they receive their diplomas.