Oakes College
Oakes College is one of ten residential colleges that make up one of the defining experiences for students at UC Santa Cruz: the residential college system. It is part of the Rachel Carson-Oakes neighborhood on campus. Oakes was founded in 1972 as College Seven, and renamed in 1975 after philanthropists Roscoe and Margaret Oakes, whose endowment contributed significantly to the founding of the college.
PARKING INFORMATION
Visitors to UCSC may purchase a daily permit at the Main Entrance Kiosk (M-7) or the TAPS Sales Office (L-7). They may also utilize ParkMobile in designated hourly/daily parking spaces. The closest parking lots to this location are Merrill College (119) or Stevenson College (109).
Media Gallery
Oakes College Introduction
UC Santa Cruz Campus Tour Chapter 4: The Residential College System
Housing & The Residential Colleges
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Oakes College
🏠 Housing & The Residential Colleges
One of the defining experiences for students at UC Santa Cruz is our residential college system. Year-after-year, our alumni identify their residential college experience and student group involvement as central to their core identities and connection to campus. The people you will live with in these communities, the shared experiences, your growth academically and personally, are all fostered by the close-knit, home-away-from-home structure our residential colleges provide.
These ten communities, each with their own academic themes, architecture, activities, location, and support resources, provide a neighborhood for your lived campus experience. By design, our residential colleges are not connected to any specific major. This provides a wonderful opportunity to interact, live, and learn alongside fellow banana slugs from different backgrounds, countries, and experiences.
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🌳 Oakes College
Oakes College’s theme, Communicating Diversity for a Just Society, prepares students to become active citizens and future leaders capable of communicating across differences to bring about a more egalitarian and just society. Oakes is perceived by some students as a "minority college", partly due to its roots in the Civil Rights Movement, and for the identity-based housing options. Oakes is also home to the Oakes Mentoring Program, the Oakes Garden, and a Writing Center. The Trading Post located at the college is intended to eliminate the stigma surrounding secondhand shopping; encourage originality and creativity; promote environmental consciousness; and strengthen community involvement.
Oakes includes multicultural themed housing, including an African, Black & Caribbean (ABC) Themed Community for transfer students, a Latinx themed community, an Asian American & Pacific Islander community, an LGBTQ community, and a Jewish Community.
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