Cultural Arts & Diversity Board of Directors
Cultural Arts & Diversity Board of Directors
“We see that the community-building, support, and engagement our organization offers benefited us in our educational experience and can benefit those around us. We strive to always uplift those around us higher than ourselves.”
-Kayla Ybarra, CAD Board Representative
An all-student Board of Directors governs the Cultural Arts and Diversity (CAD) Fee, which funds the collaboration of dedicated, diverse students to write, produce, design, and perform plays, poetry, and dance for the campus. Through the creation of these performances, CAD also provides students with hands-on technical theater education and experience with state-of-the-art equipment.
| Measure 49 |
|---|
| Cultural Arts and Diversity Fee |
|
This student-governed measure brings widely recognized compelling and culturally relevant performances and speakers to UCSC. The measure supports cultural student organizations such as the award-winning Rainbow Theater and African American Theater Arts Troupe, which produce numerous student-directed cultural arts performances annually. |
|
CAD’s student-led productions and visiting professional artists highlight the experiences of marginalized communities, establishing a space for the artistic expression of students from underrepresented backgrounds through Rainbow Theatre and the African American Theatre Arts Troupe. These two troupes also travel throughout California, hosting engaging workshops and theater performances for high school students and providing them with resources to attend college. By serving as mentors for thousands of youth, students in the troupes fulfill CAD’s core mission to “Uplift someone higher than one’s self."
The CAD Board of Directors partners with Stevenson College to research and fund improvements to the Stevenson Event Center to bring state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems to these culturally diverse student-run theater productions. In addition to improving the Center for all students, CAD empowers students to use professional theater equipment through workshops, conferences, and hands-on experience.
“Students have the say in what happens with these fees; if students are left out of the decision-making process, our voices, our needs will be left unheard, and there would be no way to guarantee that this money is really being allocated towards spaces that we feel are actually necessary. For me, CAD shows how student governance serves everyone the best.”
-Sherry Zhu, CAD Alumni
34Years as the ONLY African American Theater Troupe in the UC system
|
10Unique cultural expression productions fully produced by students |
$150,000Student scholarships awarded |
70%Percentage of CAD performers who have never acted before |
Future Planning
|
The CAD Board is dedicated to ensuring UCSC students can experience outstanding diverse productions for years to come. Understanding the necessity and the high cost of professional theater equipment, CAD intentionally retains funds each year to invest in costly renovations, upgrades, and equipment replacements. Under this scope fall expenses such as replacing CAD’s production truck, which transports custom sets and heavy props around campus and to bring productions to high schools across the state.
The Board also sets aside funds to connect students with the national theater community in order to foster connections and innovative ideas. CAD allocates funding to send students to conferences that specialize in theater technology and theater in higher education, in addition to culturally specific conferences like those for the Black Theater Network. These events provide students with the opportunity to meet and learn from their peers and mentors at other universities, providing new avenues for students to create art and bring diversity education to the campus.
