Why everyone should care about what's happening at UC Santa Cruz!

For 32 years Shakespeare Santa Cruz was a thriving production sponsored in large part by UC Santa Cruz. It was eliminated to save $300,000. The total operating budget for UC Santa Cruz that year? $540 million.

Now the administration is coming for athletics. This time, for less than .5% of the entire budget, there is a very real possibility that all sports at UC Santa Cruz will be cut.

Why should this matter to anyone other than those attending UC Sana Cruz and their local community? It's pretty simple...

We aren't educating people anymore!

Experiences are being replaced with expedience. Our children and future work force are no longer living their education. They are merely completing it. We don't really care about learning. It's just about the grade and moving on. Nobody is enjoying the journey. In fact there isn't really a journey anymore to enjoy. Just superficial "learning" measure in standardized tests.

Somehow we have allowed Scantron tests and #2 pencils to survive (in my opinion the epitome of lazy education) but from K-12 and in our colleges we are slowing destroying real-life learning labs. Music programs, the arts, athletic teams, field trips, extra curricular activities, science fairs, and many other experiences are being eliminated to save money. They are being replaced with online classes and iPads.

Don't get me wrong I'm not against technology or online learning. I just completed my first online class and it was a tremendous educational opportunity. There is value in that platform especially when it comes to access.

The problem is that learning is best lived! Want to learn about leadership? Here is a group of 25 women on a soccer team go lead them! Want to learn about Shakespeare? Attend or even act in a production! Want to learn about tigers? How about a trip to the actual zoo not just the virtual iPad zoo. These connections are critical.

This component to education has never been more evident to me than it was last week when our team took on the task of writing letters to the UC President and the Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz asking them not to eliminate sports. What did they learn?

Writing skills: how to properly format and write formal letters;
Political science: engaging in the political process;
Critical thinking: formulated arguments to support a position;
Advocacy skills: stood up for a cause and others. WE > ME;
Appreciation: came away thankful for what they have.

Education in this country needs to evolve. We need to engage our students not sit them in rows in classrooms and lecture them into boredom. Eliminating experiences is a misguided approach that is doing lasting damage to our education system. We need to fight to stop this from happening or soon there will be nothing left.

If you want to know more about the fight at UC Santa Cruz and what our team is doing CLICK HERE!

To join the fight at UC Santa Cruz please write:

Janet Napolitano Office of the President 1111 Franklin St. Oakland, CA 94607 John Valva Executive Director Alumni Affairs Office 7205 1111 Franklin St. Oakland, CA 94607 George Blumenthal Office Of the Chancellor 1156 High St. Santa Cruz, CA 95064 Send emails individually to the following addresses: