UC Santa Cruz (Audio)

In 2002, a UC Santa Cruz college with the theme of social justice and community opened with distinguished professors, politically engaged students, and a number for a name: College Ten. That changed for good, and for better, in 2023 when College Ten was named for John R. Lewis, the late American civil rights leader and politician who stood up to Jim Crow–era segregation in the 1960s. He was one of the key organizers of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis went on to become a longstanding congressman. He was elected in 1986 to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Georgia’s fifth congressional district. He held his post until his death in 2020. The naming endowment will allow the college to advance its mission of justice and social equity with a number of potential projects including the Good Trouble Academy, social justice internships and support, and expansion of programs geared toward the graduates of historically black colleges. Series: "UC