# @ucsc on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Byajo0UBA2N
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20346460-ucsc-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/3395496d7a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-06-07T16:17:37.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** UC Santa Cruz (@ucsc) — https://gondola.cc/ucsc

## Caption

#SlugStories Commencement 2019 Special Feature "During my time at UC Santa Cruz, I studied the causes and symptoms of the affordable housing crisis in California. My history thesis, "Rent Control and the Fight for Tenant Protections in California," explores the historical implications of gentrification and the displacement of low-income renters, while my field study with Tenants Together shows how renters are currently fighting for their right to stay in their homes. With the housing crisis only getting worse, I hope to shine light on how we can make the most impact by organizing in our communities to make change, and how local movements can have a huge impact on national and global struggles. Currently, I run a tenant counseling program for renters dealing with major problems in their unit that will also develop into a legal aid clinic for renters. I also work with Tenants Together the Action Fund to bolster tenant advocacy at the state level and to support local tenant organizing across California.

I see so many professors and teaching assistants in the Community Studies, History, and Sociology departments as my mentors. They taught me how to be a critical researcher while also being critical of research, as well as the value of community-based participatory research and social movements. They also strengthened my research and writing skills significantly. I thank them for sticking through my lengthy first drafts until we reached the final product. The friends I made at UC Santa Cruz are all brilliant researchers, organizers, advocates, and people. I couldn't have survived my course load, campaigning, and working full-time without their support." —— Jessica Chuidian-Ingersoll received her degree in history and community studies. Her senior thesis, "Right to a Roof: The Fight for Rent Control and Tenant Protections in California 1978–1995" received History Department Awards as well as the Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award. She also received a Blum Center Scholarship. Jessica is the program coordinator for Tenant Sanctuary in Santa Cruz. 
Photo: lunar_lindsey

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## Tags

slugstories

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