News & Updates
Stay connected with all things Cowell College. From celebrating our students’ achievements and sharing exciting campus events to honoring our rich traditions and vibrant community stories, discover what’s happening throughout our Cowell College family.
College Nine, Cowell, Crown
Colleges advising hubs launch in fall 2025
Each hub will serve two colleges, expanding availability and connecting students with coordinated support from professional and peer advisors.
Cowell
Life Beyond the Redwoods: Tanner Rowland at the U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Tanner Rowland (Cowell ’24, politics) works as a congressional aide in the U.S. House of Representatives under the Office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta.
Cowell
Why math and musical prodigy Tom Lehrer was so well-suited for young UC Santa Cruz
The uncomfortably famous satirical songwriter taught as a Cowell College fellow from 1972 to 2001
Cowell
Changing the story: Acclaimed author William Finnegan on his long journey to The New Yorker
Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Finnegan (Cowell, ‘74, Literature), this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Humanities Undergraduate Alumni Award, spoke of the need for self-reinvention, crooked paths, career switches, and “changing your story” during his acceptance speech at this week’s Celebrating the Humanities event.
Cowell
UCSC alumnus wins Pulitzer
Jason Roberts was awarded the 2025 prize for his biography “Every Living Thing”
Cowell
About Hunger & Resilience: Cowell’s art exhibitions focus on hunger, resilience, and campus food systems
This spring at Cowell College’s Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, About Hunger & Resilience by photographer Michael Nye is presented in dialogue with Circuit, a student-led installation on campus food systems.
Cowell, Crown
Matt O’Hara and Katia Obraczka appointed interim provosts of Cowell and Crown for 2025-26
The Division of Undergraduate Education is proud to announce the appointment of Professor Matt O’Hara as interim provost of Cowell College and Professor Katia Obraczka as interim provost of Crown College for the 2025-26 academic year.
Cowell
Cowell College’s personal finance class is shaping financial education across the UC
At UC Santa Cruz’s Cowell College, a remarkable course is setting new standards in financial education. COWL 52 – Personal Finance and Investing, a 5-unit asynchronous online class, stands out not only as the largest online course at UC Santa Cruz but also as a model for financial literacy education across the University of California system.
College Nine, Cowell, Crown
UC Santa Cruz colleges awarded planning grant from Teagle Foundation
The UC Santa Cruz colleges have been awarded a $25,000 planning grant from the Teagle Foundation to enhance liberal education for all students using equity-minded, high-impact practices. Specifically, the project will develop a common reading list of transformative texts and common experiences that all UC Santa Cruz first-year students will share.