A decade of giving forward
Now in its 10th year, the Scholarship Benefit Dinner has become one of UCSC’s premiere fundraising events, highlighting community achievement while helping outstanding students fund their college educations.
The Scholarship Benefit Dinner, popularly known as SBD, has drawn attention and strong public support to UCSC’s scholarship giving campaign, which has raised more than $23 million—with 7,948 donors and 21,673 gifts—over the past decade.
The dinner provides urgently needed support for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to help students attain their fullest academic potential.
Because of a reduction in state support, more students than ever now need financial assistance to attend the university, and in recent years, low- and middle-income families have been particularly hard-hit by increased costs.
Since its creation, SBD has addressed this growing need, while attracting a dazzling array of Uevents.ucsc.edu/sbdCSC alumni speakers, including Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of advertising at Google, and Kevin Beggs, president of Lionsgate Television Group, who will address the crowd this year.
The need to raise money for scholarships remains pressing and urgent, said Gary Novack, a longtime supporter of UCSC scholarships, as well as a former UC Santa Cruz Foundation board president and a UC Regent from 2003 to 2005.
Seventy percent of UCSC students require financial aid. More than one-third are from underrepresented groups. Half of the incoming frosh last fall were first-generation students whose parents haven’t earned a four-year degree.
Older alumni were given great opportunities and had strong financial support from the state of California, he said. Novack and his parents all graduated from the UC system. Since then, the UCs have witnessed an erosion of public support.
“As I say, there can be no politics about scholarships,” he said. “The only question should be, ‘How much can we give?’”
This year’s Scholarship Benefit Dinner celebration will take place at 7 p.m. February 23 at UCSC’s University Center. A pre-dinner reception starts at 6 p.m. For information, visit events.ucsc.edu/sbd.