Student Achievement Week 2025
Saturday, May 31 - Sunday, June 8, 2025
Students are recognized for their achievements in research and other scholarly activities during Student Achievement Week! During this time, many will present their work publicly through a myriad of events -- everything from the Art exhibitions, Theater productions, and Undergraduate Research celebrations.
COLLEGES AND CAMPUS
Chancellor's and Steck Undergraduate Research Awards Luncheon
Tuesday, June 3
In-Person Event
(Invitation only)
Three outstanding undergraduate theses/projects from each of the five divisions (15 total) are chosen annually to receive a $500 Chancellor's Undergraduate Research Award. One of these 15 undergraduate research projects will also receive the $2,000 Steck Family Award which recognizes the top research project at UC Santa Cruz for 2024-2025.
Chicane Latine Year End Celebration
Monday, June 16
1:00 PM
East Upper Field
(Ticketed event)
For decades, the El Centro has been hosting the annual Chicane Latine Year-End Ceremony (CLYEC). This year's CLYEC will be hosted in person on Monday, June 16, 2025 at 1:00pm on the East Upper Field. 2025 will mark the 53rd anniversary of our Chicane Latiné Year End Ceremony–a bilingual celebration for all graduating students, undergraduate and graduate, and their families. During the bilingual ceremony, there are danzantes, live musical performances, and powerful keynote speakers.
AA/PI/SWANA Year-End Celebration
Friday, June 6
6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Merrill Cultural Center
Join us as we celebrate our Asian American/Pacific Islander/Southwest Asian and North African Class of 2025! This year's AA/PI/SWANA Year-End Celebration will be held on Friday, June 6th from 6-9:30pm at the Merrill Cultural Center. The AA/PI/SWANA Year-End Celebration consists of speeches from students and faculty, the opportunity for each graduate to cross the stage and receive a stole, and a meal following the ceremony. Graduates — register at bit.ly/yec25reg to participate in our ceremony and receive a FREE cultural stole!
For questions, accommodations, volunteer opportunities, or more info, please email tia@ucsc.edu or aapirc@ucsc.edu.
DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP SYMPOSIUM 2025
Tuesday, May 20
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Digital Scholarship Commons on the ground floor of McHenry Library
The University Library Center for Digital Scholarship each year invites all UCSC students engaged in creative, critical research using digital tools and platforms to consider presenting at our annual Digital Scholarship Symposium. Applicants can propose to present a project in the digital project showcase and/or deliver a brief VizWall presentation.
Koret Undergraduate Research Slam
Friday, June 6
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Virtual Event
This poster symposium event showcases the over 50 research and creative projects completed by the 2024-2025 Koret Scholars.The Koret Scholars Program is funded by a generous grant from the Koret Foundation and provides scholarships to undergraduate students for a variety of research projects and experiences from every division across campus.
Pan-African Research Fellowship Spring Symposium
TBD
12:00 PM
(Registration required)
The Office for African, Black, and Caribbean Student Success is excited to invite you to join us at our inaugural Pan-African Research Fellowship Symposium. We invite you to participate in enriching conversations with the fellows and learn more about the projects they contributed to this academic year. Following this, we invite you to attend our Formal Research Presentations which will be hosted at 3 PM in the Namaste Lounge. Each fellow will share an in-depth presentation of their work for an audience of students, staff, faculty, and community members.
The entire event is free and open to the public, however, seating is limited so please register in advance here: tinyurl.com/parfRSVP.
Phi Beta Kappa Induction Ceremony
Thursday, May 29
2:30 - 4:00 PM
(Invitation only)
Undergraduates who were elected to Phi Beta Kappa will be formally inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society at this event. Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest honor society. This year’s ceremony will recognize inductees from the graduating classes of summer 2024, fall 2024, winter 2025, and spring 2025.
Lavender Graduation
Sunday, June 8
4:00 - 6:00 PM
Cowell Ranch Hay Barn
For over 20 years, The Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center has been proudly celebrating and honoring the accomplishments of graduating students at UCSC. Originally conceived as the “Rainbow Ceremony,” the title of the graduation was updated in 2019 to align with the sentiment of the Lavender awards and the long history in higher education of these ceremonies being called Lavender Graduations. At the annual Lavender Graduation, graduates are celebrated in a uniquely queer way. Friends and family are invited to cheer on graduates, and there are keynotes given from guest speakers as well as student speakers.
ARTS DIVISION
Spring Open Studios
Friday, June 6
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Elena Baskin Visual Arts Studio
Open Studios features student art work in a variety of media including: drawing, painting, print media, sculpture, photography, environmental art, and electronic art/new media. Come to the UCSC Art Department located in the Elena Baskin Visual Arts Studios on Friday June 6, 2025 from 12pm – 4pm to see the Art students’ artworks exhibited throughout the studios and classrooms. The event is free and open to the public.
HUMANITIES DIVISION
Celebrating the Humanities
TBD
4:00 - 7:00 PM
(Invitation only)
Celebrating the Humanities is an end-of-year event highlighting excellence in the Humanities Division by honoring our undergraduate award recipients and showcasing the Employing Humanities Initiative. This inaugural celebration merges two previous annual events— Spring Awards and the Employing Humanities Celebration —into one special gathering.
History Undergraduate Spring Showcase
TBD
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Humanities 1 Room 210
The Undergraduate History Spring Showcase is an annual event held each spring that recognizes the exceptional research conducted by UC Santa Cruz History undergraduates.
Linguistics Undergraduate Research Conference
TBD
2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
London Nelson Center, Multipurpose Room 3
Towards the end of the spring quarter each year, the Linguistics Undergraduate Research Conference (LURC) showcases the research of the department's undergraduate students. This conference always features as an invited speaker, a distinguished alumnus or alumna of the department. This year, the Distinguished Alumnus speaker will be Kirby Conrod, who is an Assistant Professor at Swarthmore College.
DIVISION OF PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, AND JACK BASKIN SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Baskin School of Engineering's Dean's & Chancellor's Award Ceremony
TBD
12:00 - 2 PM
Baskin Auditorium Courtyard
This invitation-only event will honor student recipients of the 2025 Deans' and Chancellor's Award. The Dean of the School of Engineering will be handing out awrds followed by a reception.
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Undergraduate Research Symposium
TBD
9:00 AM
Coastal Biology Building
The EEB Undergraduate Research Symposium is an end-of-the-year event that celebrates the accomplishments of EEB's undergraduate students and explores the diversity of research they have been involved in.
MESA Senior Celebration
TBD
(Invitation only)
This invitation-only event will honor MESA Engineering students of 2025.
Partner's Day and Senior Design Showcasem
TBD
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Baskin Engineering Courtyard
(RSVP Here)
Come experience the impactful and innovative work completed by our graduating seniors in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Robotics Engineering. You will have the opportunity to discuss each project directly with the students involved, and see 30+ posters on the wide variety of capstone projects our students have undertaken. Among them are our corporate sponsored projects, wherein teams collaborated with corporate sponsors to solve real-world problems for the companies involved.
SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
Building Belonging Student Showcase 2025
TBD
3:00 PM - 5:30 PM
(RSVP here)
The Institute for Social Transformation is excited to host an end-of-year celebration and student showcase event to honor the work that has been accomplished in the Building Belonging program. Students who have been involved in the program in 2024-20245 will present their contributions to research projects. The event will take place in person, at the UCSC Cultural Center at Merrill.
This event will provide Building Belonging Fellows an opportunity to share their research with the community. All are welcome to attend including students, faculty, staff, family and friends. Following the talks, there will be a reception with light refreshments.
Sponsored by: The Institute for Social Transformation and the Division of Social Sciences.
Environmental Studies Undergraduate Senior Poster Symposium
TBD
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Norris Center for Natural History, Natural Sciences 2 room 239
Check out what the Environmental Studies students have been up to in their senior theses, senior internships, and senior seminar projects!
Latin American and Latino Studies End of Year Celebration
TBD
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Merrill Cultural Center
LALS undergraduates are invited to join LALS faculty, staff, and graduate students at this celebratory end-of-year event.
Latin American and Latino Studies Research Symposium
TBD
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Charles E. Merrill Lounge
The LALS Research Symposium will showcase research projects by current undergraduate and graduate students in LALS.
Politics & Legal Studies Year-End Celebration
TBD
3:00 PM
(Invitation only)
Join us for the Politics and Legal Studies Year-End Celebration! Come join faculty, staff, graduating seniors, grads and their families for light snacks, graduation cupcakes and a cider toast. RSVP here.
Social Sciences Student Awards Lucheon
TBD
(Event canceled)
This event will honor student recipients of the Division of Social Sciences 2025 awards/scholarships, including the Deans' award recipients. The event is invitation only, for awardees and up to two guests.
Sociology Graduation Celebration
TBD
2:00 PM
(Invitation only)
Join us for the 2025 Sociology Department end of year celebration for graduating students.
If you have questions about Student Achievement Week, please email the Coordinator of Undergraduate Honors: ur_hnrs@ucsc.edu.