Discover the Top 9 Fun Facts About UC Santa Cruz: A Unique Campus Adventure Awaits You!

1. Sammy the Slug's Origin Story

Legend has it that Sammy the Slug, UC Santa Cruz's beloved mascot, was a mollusk on a mission – to stand up against lab experiments, fight for slug freedom, and ultimately score the gig of a lifetime as the face of a prestigious university: In reality, Sammy was part of a mollusk growth study that went awry, accidentally gaining arms and legs before escaping to the campus's forest floor. When Santa Cruz students campaigned for the Banana Slug to be their official mascot, they stumbled upon Sammy and offered the now-unique slug the esteemed position, making him a symbol of the university ever since.
Source => mascothalloffame.com

2. Cowell Ranch Lime Works Transformation

Who needs limestone cowboys when you've got the Cowell Ranch Lime Works at UC Santa Cruz: Home to a former rock quarry that supplied San Francisco with lime, its 1960s transformation into a vibrant amphitheater, featuring iconic guests like Cesar Chavez and Angela Davis, and, even after disrepair, bouncing back with a $7.5-million-dollar funding, turning it into a unique campus event venue and photo exhibit subject at UCSC library.
Source => quarry.ucsc.edu

Did you know that 1.5 million bats call Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge their home, creating the world's largest urban bat colony? Witness their nightly insect feast and join the delighted locals and tourists! 🦇

=> Fun Facts about Texas

3. Hogwarts of Game Design

If Hogwarts had a gaming program, UC Santa Cruz would be it: This university has prestigious game design degrees, including B.S. in Computer Game Design, M.S. and Ph.D. in Computational Media, M.S. in Games and Playable Media, and M.F.A. in Digital Arts and New Media, making it a prime destination for both aspiring and established game enthusiasts to merge technical prowess with artistic expression.
Source => games.ucsc.edu

4. UC Santa Cruz's Linguist Paradise

Why did the linguist refuse to travel? They discovered the whole world right at UC Santa Cruz! : As a hotbed for budding word aficionados, UC Santa Cruz ranks #10 in the nation for foreign languages and linguistics bachelor's programs, having awarded 246 degrees in the 2020-2021 academic year to an eclectic mix of 28% men and 72% women from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Source => collegefactual.com

5. Screaming Hand Art Connections

Surf's up and skaters are grinding in the artsy halls of UC Santa Cruz, where a Screaming Hand doesn't give out a lecture, but rather, sparks artistic inspiration: The esteemed university's Art Department boasts a connection to Jim Phillips, the iconic skateboard and surfboard artist, showcasing his legendary work in various exhibits and stocking his fascinating memoirs in the campus bookstore.
Source => jimphillips.com

6. Genome Squad's Crime-solving Tools

Who needs Sherlock when you've got UC Santa Cruz's Genome Squad? They're the crime-fighting masterminds of genomic decoding: UC Santa Cruz was pivotal in creating the UCSC Genome Browser, a tool that displays and aligns genome data from various sources, aiding researchers across the globe. Their Genome Bioinformatics group didn't stop there, offering even more ways to scrutinize genetic information with their suite of tools, including BLAT, Table Browser, Genome Graphs, and Gene Sorter.
Source => genome.ucsc.edu

7. Embracing the Sluggish Spirit

If you're feeling sluggish, UC Santa Cruz can't be beat: Home to the one and only banana slug mascot, this campus embraces its offbeat spirit while giving students a breathtaking natural backdrop, nestled among towering trees and the scenic Monterey Bay.
Source => tripadvisor.com

8. Tree-living Protest Revolution

Before Howler Monkeys and Tree Huggers had a lovechild: In 2007, UC Santa Cruz witnessed a tree-living revolution as students and activists, opposing the University's Long Range Development Plan, perched on second-generation redwoods for over a month, stalling the construction of a biomedical building and sparking nationwide discussions on campus growth and sustainability.
Source => nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu

9. Alumna Planet Hunter in Time 100

Blast off to the stars with a "planet hunter" who frequents Time magazine instead of tabloids: UC Santa Cruz alumna Natalie Batalha, a NASA scientist, was named to Time's annual list of the "100 most influential people in the world" for her groundbreaking work on NASA's Kepler Mission, searching for Earth-size planets beyond our solar system. As the first woman at NASA to receive the Time 100 designation, Batalha's influence soared beyond the Milky Way as she earned her Ph.D. in astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz in 1997 and contributed to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets.
Source => news.ucsc.edu