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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

Kresge was UCSC’s sixth college and opened in 1971. Kresge was named after Sebastion Kresge, who was the founder of K-Mart. Kresge was often jokingly referred to as “K-Mart College”. The college was largely designed by students — the first provost taught a course titled “Creating Kresge College”. Even some of the apartments’ layouts were designed by students.

Theme

Kresge’s theme is “Power and Representation”. The core course revolves slightly around politics, as well as how individuals interact with their community.

Location

Kresge is just up the hill from Porter, at the northwest corner of campus.

The central meeting place at Kresge

Science Hill is a very short walk from Kresge, and Porter and College Eight are an easy walk downhill. The bookstore area and the East Field are a bit farther, and fortunately Kresge has bus stops going both clockwise and counter-clockwise around the campus. If you do choose to walk, the walk is mostly level, without much uphill at all.

The media center near the center of campus and McHenry Library are a bit farther away, so you will need to do some walking to reach them. The core buses that run to those places do not reach Kresge.

Housing

Unlike the other nine colleges at UCSC, Kresge College only contains apartments — there are no dorms at Kresge.

Kresge apartments are divided into three locations:

1. 

   Apartments at Kresge

   Kresge Proper: Kresge Proper contains the majority of Kresge students. The apartments house a total of 7 or 8 students typically, though there are some that house 3 and 6. Kresge Proper contains Kresge’s unique architectural style, which is meant to model a fantasy Italian village.

2. 

   Kresge East housing

   Kresge East: Kresge’s eastern apartments are located across a ravine from Kresge, and are more on the main road. These apartments feel a bit secluded because they are separated from the main Kresge area.

3. Kresge/Porter: As mentioned with Porter College, Kresge and Porter share a few of Porter’s apartment buildings, but not all apartments (thanks Lisa!). These are located between Porter and Kresge, and they definitely seem very modern and spacious. The apartments contain singles, doubles, and triples and I believe hold 3 students.

Dining

The nearest dining hall to Kresge is at Porter College. Porter’s dining hall, I believe, tends to cater towards vegan/vegetarian diners. Dishes tend to have less meat.

The entrance to Porter's dining hall

Porter’s dining hall is undergoing renovation next year and won’t reopen until winter 2010. When it does reopen, be warned that Porter dining hall is open significantly less than other dining halls — it’s closed on weekends, and on weekdays closes at 7 PM. I’m guessing the idea is since Kresge students live in apartments with kitchens, there’s not as much need for the dining hall to remain open.

College Eight‘s dining hall and College 9/10′s dining hall are both about the same distance from Kresge — about a 10 minute walk. Both of these are open more hours and are available most times that Porter’s is not.

Things to Remember

• If you want to live in a dorm your freshman year, Kresge is not for you. You will be placed into an apartment your freshman year at Kresge, so make sure you’re up for living with multiple housemates.
• Kresge shares the stereotype of Porter College as being a “hippy” college. Kresge represents the counter-cultural movement, and so be ready for the culture that comes with it. The liberal marijuana culture is embraced at Kresge.

More Pictures

Another look at the apartments

More Links

• Kresge homepage
• Map of Kresge College
• Kresge College overview
• Kresge student handbook (PDF)
• Flickr search for “kresge ucsc”