STUDENT COMMISSION ON RACIAL EQUALITY

Coming to UCSB from any school is a significant change in many ways; especially socially and culturally because UCSB is home to students with varying ethnic, gender and sexual identities; we encounter a new vocabulary and way of seeing and understanding a world including many identities we had not yet encountered or stopped to consider in our everyday lives. Of those many identities and ideas The Student Commission On Racial Equality (SCORE) is dedicated to creating a safe campus environment for students of color. Get involved with an influential force in student government on our campus and open networks of students who share similar questions and experiences.

SCORE organizes two annual events: “The Gathering” is an open mic space for students to express their opinions and thoughts through poetry, song, dance and spoken word. Our annual Facing Race Conferences included a variety or workshops, panelists, speakers and performers to provide a space for students and community members to confront multiple current issues. Over the years SCORE has worked on campaigns such as “Education Not Incarceration”, a UC Statewide Campaign. We co-organized the 13th annual UC Statewide “Students of Color Conference: The War on Education and the Militarization of Our Community.”

SCORE has had a long legacy of creating change within our campus as well as voicing our needs within the UC System. It is a body funded by the UCSB undergraduate students dedicated to creating a safe environment at UCSB for students of color and the identities encompassed by people of color. We want to continue this history to create a welcoming environment for students of color and other identities students of color may claim through gender and sexual expression. We have access and act as a bridge between academic departments and various campus communities and provide a space for people to express their individuality and their voice through mediums such as artistic expression, organizing, political action, education and dialogue to combat a wide variety of issues.

In the past, we have provided spaces for people to act think, express, educate and speak out against racism and the multiple oppressions that link racism such as xenophobia, sexism and homophobia. We also acknowledge the intricacies encompassed within people of color identities, such as various backgrounds, experiences and individual struggles. As well as confronting racism on the individual level, we also critically challenge racism through the structure of society in institutions like the military and prisons and how these forces affect higher education.

If you’re interested in meeting with others who believe in working for equality, and having your voice heard within a progressive movement, we welcome you to our meetings.

Compiled by Christopher J. De La Cerda & Tiffany Pascual