Oakes College
Encyclopedia
Oakes College is a residential college
at the University of California, Santa Cruz
. It is on the southwestern corner of the campus, south of College Eight
and east of the Family Student Housing complex.
Oakes was founded in 1972 as College Seven. In 1968, the Black Liberation Front, a black power
group, demanded an all-black college. Professor J. Herman Blake, UCSC's only African American
faculty member at the time, proposed a compromise in which College Seven's academic program would focus on ethnic studies
. Though the term "ethnic studies" was dropped in the planning phases, the college has always stressed racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, along with the representation and support of students from historically disadvantaged groups.
Oakes is perceived by some students as a "minority college", partly due to its roots in radical elements of the American Civil Rights Movement. Comparative racial and ethnic statistics do show that Oakes' student body has slightly higher percentages of minorities than a number of other UCSC colleges and UCSC's student body as a whole. For example, 9.8% of Oakes's students are African American and 12.2% are Filipino American, compared with 2.7% and 4.5%, respectively, among UCSC's general student body. (pdf)
College Seven was renamed Oakes in 1975 after philanthropists Roscoe and Margaret Oakes, whose endowment contributed significantly to the founding of the college.
Noted political activist Angela Davis
, an Oakes affiliate,
is a professor of history of consciousness
, an unconventional program centering on the history of struggles for racial, economic and social justice and equality.
Oakes College provides theme housing for their students that want to live on campus. There are four dormitory buildings and four apartment blocks.
Dormitory Buildings
Biko House- African American Theme
Hong-Lim House- Asian American/Pacific Islander Themes
Bayit Wiesel- Jewish, GLBTI Themes
Casa Huerta- Chicano/Latino Theme
Apartment Blocks
Casa Kahlo- Chicano/Latino Theme
Shabazz Block- African American Theme
Milk Block- Jewish, GLBTI Themes
Lili'uokalani Minami Block- Asian American/Pacific Islander Themes
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
. It is on the southwestern corner of the campus, south of College Eight
College Eight
College Eight is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is on the west side of campus, north of Oakes College and southeast of Porter College. The theme of its freshman core course is Environment and Society....
and east of the Family Student Housing complex.
Oakes was founded in 1972 as College Seven. In 1968, the Black Liberation Front, a black power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
group, demanded an all-black college. Professor J. Herman Blake, UCSC's only African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
faculty member at the time, proposed a compromise in which College Seven's academic program would focus on ethnic studies
Ethnic studies
Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism...
. Though the term "ethnic studies" was dropped in the planning phases, the college has always stressed racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, along with the representation and support of students from historically disadvantaged groups.
Oakes is perceived by some students as a "minority college", partly due to its roots in radical elements of the American Civil Rights Movement. Comparative racial and ethnic statistics do show that Oakes' student body has slightly higher percentages of minorities than a number of other UCSC colleges and UCSC's student body as a whole. For example, 9.8% of Oakes's students are African American and 12.2% are Filipino American, compared with 2.7% and 4.5%, respectively, among UCSC's general student body. (pdf)
College Seven was renamed Oakes in 1975 after philanthropists Roscoe and Margaret Oakes, whose endowment contributed significantly to the founding of the college.
Noted political activist Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
, an Oakes affiliate,
is a professor of history of consciousness
History of Consciousness
The History of Consciousness program is an interdisciplinary graduate program in the humanities with links to the sciences, social sciences, and arts at the University of California at Santa Cruz....
, an unconventional program centering on the history of struggles for racial, economic and social justice and equality.
Oakes Theme Housing
Oakes College provides theme housing for their students that want to live on campus. There are four dormitory buildings and four apartment blocks.
Dormitory Buildings
Biko House- African American Theme
Hong-Lim House- Asian American/Pacific Islander Themes
Bayit Wiesel- Jewish, GLBTI Themes
Casa Huerta- Chicano/Latino Theme
Apartment Blocks
Casa Kahlo- Chicano/Latino Theme
Shabazz Block- African American Theme
Milk Block- Jewish, GLBTI Themes
Lili'uokalani Minami Block- Asian American/Pacific Islander Themes