College Ten
# College Ten

John R. Lewis College is one of the ten residential colleges at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is on the north side of campus, west of College Nine and north of the Cowell Student Health Center. The theme of its freshman core course is Social Justice and Community.

Lewis College is home to the University Center, a conference center located above the Dining Commons, and the Terry Freitas cafe, a student-run co-op cafe named after UCSC-alumni Terry Freitas, who was murdered in Colombia due to his work with the U'wa people to stop oil companies from drilling on U'wa land.

In 2010, students and staff worked together to name the three residential halls. They are called Angela Davis House, after the American political activist and UCSC professor, Angela Davis; Ohlone House, after the native Ohlone people who are indigenous to the region; and Amnesty House, after Amnesty International and their work for human rights.

The construction of Colleges Nine and Ten in 1992 caused a furor among students, as the planned construction site called for the destruction of a region of forest known as Elfland. Rife with unique student-built fantasy structures, the demolition of most of Elfland sparked student protests, resulting in several arrests .

College Ten was founded in 2002, making it the newest UCSC college as of May 2017. On October 27, 2021, Chancellor Cynthia Larive announced that the university will be renaming College Ten after civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis. The name change will be made official with a ceremony to be held in spring 2022.

