The Late 1950's

The late 1950's

In the late 1950's the UC Santa Cruz Affiliates evolved from a subcommittee of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. The subcommittee was a group formed on a county-wide basis to solicit pledges of scholarship funds to be realized when and if the UC Board of Regents chose the Cowell Ranch site in Santa Cruz as a location for a new University of California campus.  At the time of their founding, The Affiliates were called the Citizens for Campus Cooperation.

The suggestion that pledges be sought was made by the late Assemblyman Glenn Coolidge of Felton, who was a diligent and an imaginative advocate for a new UC campus in Santa Cruz.  The Cowell Ranch location was first envisioned as a central coastal area campus site by Gordon Sinclair, managing editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

The UC Regents provisional decision in favor of Santa Cruz was made on December 16, 1960 with a final confirmation on March 17, 1961. During this time the scholarship effort had generated pledges approximating $20,000 divided into units of $400. By far, the largest single gift towards the scholarship effort was $6000 donated by Mr. and Mrs. Peter J. Pasetta of Santa Cruz. That $6,000 became the start-up sum for what has since developed into an endowment used today by The Affiliates to award scholarships to deserving local students attending UC Santa Cruz.

The earliest documented account of The Affiliates' existence comes from meeting minutes of January 14, 1964 where a slate of officers was elected and a constitution was approved during a general membership meeting at Deer Park Tavern in Aptos, CA.