UCSC Colleges: College Nine

Posted April 6th, 2009. Categorized under California. 1 Comment

This post is part of a series about the colleges at UC Santa Cruz. For more information and a general overview of the college system at UCSC, see this post.

History

College Nine was the first college founded at UCSC since College Eight was founded in 1972. College Nine was founded in 2000, and still hasn’t received a name yet.

Theme

College Nine’s theme is “International and Global Issues”. The core course takes an international focus on issues such as human rights, the environment, and economic globalization.

Location

College Nine is located at the north end of campus, right next to College Ten. Both colleges share a bus stop, and campus loop buses and the city buses stop here going both directions.

Science Hill is a short walk down the road, up a slight hill, and the bookstore area is a short walk downhill in the other direction. The areas at the center of campus, such as the McHenry Library and the media center, are a bit tougher to reach and will definitely involve some walking, though it’s shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to reach either.

Housing

Dorm buildings at College Nine

Apartment buildings

Freshman are typically housed in dorms. Most students are placed in doubles or triples, though there are a few singles as well. From what I’ve heard, the dorms are spacious. There are three different dorm buildings, and each floor will share a coed bathroom.

Colleges Nine and Ten share their apartments, much like Crown & Merrill. The apartments are located behind both colleges, at the northern tip of campus. The apartments are beautiful and are nestled in the tall redwoods. Students can be housed in singles, doubles, or triples, for a total of four or five students per apartment. Most apartments have their own balcony or deck.

Dining

The dining hall for Colleges Nine and Ten

College Nine and Ten share a dining hall. Unlike the other dining halls, this one isn’t located at any one college — it’s actually in the middle of both. The dining hall’s food is pretty good, but I’ve noticed little variety. Many common dishes are served daily — including hamburgers, pizza, and Mexican food, as well as a large salad bar.

The dining hall is open until midnight on Sundays through Thursdays, but it closes at 7 PM on Fridays and Saturdays. Crown‘s dining hall is a short walk away, however, and is open late on weekends.

Things to Remember

College Nine is a new college, and so it still feels very modern. The rooms are spacious and in good condition. Other colleges have been renovated frequently since their creation, however, so this isn’t a difference.
The stereotype for this college is that it’s an “Asian” college, and that most of its residents are Asian. There’s some truth to this, as international students are housed at Nine and Ten.
College Nine is very conveniently located — most places on campus are very easy to reach from it.
Nine and Ten don’t really have separate identities as colleges yet. The two are very similar.