Underground Scholars Initiative at UC Davis

Want to help build a movement?

See www.linktr.ee/undergrounducd for the application for the 2023-24 USI Ambassador Program. It provides paid leadership development training to formerly incarcerated and system impacted community college students.

Students will learn leadership skills, communication, organizing, and advocacy.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
* Must be a current student at a California Community College and have completed at least one semester.
* Must be formerly incarcerated or system impacted. We define system impacted as having a close relative
incarcerated. People who have been arrested and released without incarceration are also considered "system
impacted."
* Must be able to commit from August 2023 - May 2024.
* If you have already been an ambassador, you are not eligible.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
* Attend Monthly virtual meetings and periodic in-person meetings at a UC Campus
* Start an organization on campus (if there isn't one already) for formerly incarcerated and system impacted students.
* Table every few weeks on campus quad or in your transfer center.
We will provide you with materials for your table.
* Host an event or two (and have a panel) at your respective community college.
Members of Underground Scholars can come out to support.
* Be responsive to our emails and calls and reach out if you need support or want to discuss anything regarding your role as an ambassador.
* Meet with administrators on your campus to build relationships and support formerly incarcerated, and system impacted students.

MEETINGS:
Virtual Ambassador meetings are held once a month, mostly on the last Friday of the month from 12 pm until 2pm.
These meetings are mandatory. Ambassadors will also have some in-person meetings on a UC campus. Dates for those meetings will be determined by the Fall.

STIPENDS:

The Underground Scholars Statewide Collective will provide a stipend of $1,000 for the academic year and will accept only one student from each community college campus. The payment will be disbursed in May 2024 if you complete the program.

We’re looking for the next cohort of formerly incarcerated UC students!!✊👨‍🎓🧑‍🎓✊Complete this form (http://linktr.ee/undergrounducd) if you would like support from Underground Scholars with applying to a University of California this fall (to transfer Fall 2024), and share it with anyone who may be interested!!

Our transfer program includes a series of online workshops (some in-person may be available), one on one writing support with the UC application, support with appealing denials, and connection to resources upon admission. Our transfer program has a very high success rate. Each year, about 65% of our applicants were offered admission to UC Berkeley. Over 90% of applicants were offered acceptance to other UC's.

We only support community college transfer applicants who meet all the eligibility criteria below. Selected applicants will be contacted by one of our transfer coordinators across the UC campuses. Submission of this form does not guarantee a place in our cohort, however, we may be able to direct you towards other student support programs within the UC system. Please be attentive to your email and/or phone.

Eligibility:

Must be formerly incarcerated or system-impacted (immediate family member incarcerated)
Must be on track to have 60 units completed by Spring 2024
Must attend a California Community College
Meet minimum transfer GPA requirements by Fall 2023 for the campuses you want to apply to
3.0 for UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego
2.8 for UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside

If you have any further questions, please email [email protected]
.tsr

Sixteen formerly incarcerated students and our allies took turns at our last event talking about why building a prison to school pipeline is so vital!
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A few pics from our lunch, campus tour, and information sessions with USI ambassadors and other community college students. Thanks again to Hanna and Hannah for reaching out to give us a tour of their center, and to .tsr and for sharing their services, support, and excitement with the visiting students!! And an especially big thanks to for letting us reserve his patio so our guests could eat the best food in Davis outside on a beautiful day!
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What a great night!! Thank you to everyone who showed up in person and online to support formerly incarcerated students! I don’t even know how to express what it means to have a room full of people cheering us on like that. But I DO know y’all changed some lives and empowered future leaders just by being there (or maybe you’re one of the future leaders?). Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. More pics to come.
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.ace .srrc

Come hear Tina and over a dozen other formerly incarcerated people and allies speak Thursday, March 16th | 6:00-8:00pm at the UC Davis Law School and on Zoom. Find the speaker bios, more information, and RSVP at
https://linktr.ee/undergrounducd
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Come show support for formerly incarcerated students Thursday night, and we’ll give you pens. And stickers. And pizza. And a chance to win cash prizes. It’s the least we can do to show appreciation for your support, not only this Thursday but since we arrived at UC Davis!!

Find more info and RSVP at https://linktr.ee/undergrounducd
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Jenny started supporting the formerly incarcerated student movement at UC Davis after her freshman year. Then she was our first PR chair before becoming president of . Now she’s working in the post conviction relief unit , where she’s been connecting us with clients to try to get/keep them out of prison. And in the fall she’ll start law school at UCLA. Congrats Jenny, and thanks for all that you do!!

Come hear her speak at our event on March 16th! She’ll be on our ally panel with other student leaders talking about why they support building a prison to school pipeline. There will also be past, present, and future formerly incarcerated UCD student leaders talking about what education means to us and how others can get involved! Find more information and RSVP at https://linktr.ee/undergrounducd
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New stickerzz 👌✊
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Mark your calendars and RSVP at https://linktr.ee/undergrounducd
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