UMOJA
UMOJA is a student-initiated and student-run retention program dedicated to keeping African/Black identified students here at UC Santa Cruz.
Meaning “Unity” in Swahili, Umoja’s goal is to have them graduate with having felt a sense of support and encouragement from other students, faculty, and their community.
We aim to address the needs of our community in hopes to hold accountable any and all programs/centers that fail to support our community by making sure that we receive what we deserve for a socially and academically balanced life here at UCSC.
We also aim to help unite and engage our community on different levels of being in college so that they feel the need to keep themselves and our community present at UCSC. Because without unity there is no community.
UMOJA Chancellor’s Undergrad Intern
Elyse Venerable
Fourth year, Anthropology: Bioarchaeology (she/they)
Being the UMOJA CUIP at e² means that I help foster a safe and engaging community environment for UCSC ABC (African, Black, & Caribbean) students to thrive in. I throw community gathering events as well as providing accessible academic resources for everyone to utilize so that their time at UC Santa Cruz can be positive, effective, and overall fun! As a retention specialist, I will invest in my community so that they may continue their higher eduction and ultimately, invest in themselves. I love to travel! I've solo-traveled to over 10 countries and always planning the next trip :)
Connect with UMOJA
✉️ E-mail: ucsantacruz.umoja@gmail.com
📸 Instagram: @umoja.ucsc
🔗 Linktree: linktr.ee/umojaucsc