UCI Giving Day 2023

The Black Thriving Initiative drives UCI’s ambition to be the nation’s foremost destination for Black people to thrive. Launched in the wake of the national reckoning on anti-Black racism, the initiative is a far-reaching response to this imperative. As a whole university initiative, it mobilizes the entire campus community and Anteater nation to build a thriving culture for Black students, faculty, alumni and communities served by UCI. The initiative consists of three action platforms: 

1) Confront anti-Blackness wherever teaching and learning as well as healing and service takes place in and on behalf of UCI. 

2) Advance the understanding of the Black experience and the drivers of well-being in support of Black communities. 

3) Link UCI’s future to the success of Black people in the region, state and country. 

What will your gifts achieve?

Gifts to the UCI Black Thriving Initiative will support promising students, promote an anti-racist culture, accelerate understanding of the Black experience, and strengthen the presence of UCI in the Black community. Your donation to the UCI Black Thriving Initiative Vice Chancellor's Excellence Fund will contribute to the following opportunities.

Investing in Student Leadership: Thriving Scholarship Program. Open to all newly admitted first year and transfer students, the Thriving Scholarship recognizes their leadership in promoting thriving Black communities in the region, state and nation. Student efforts can range from literacy and educational achievement, civic engagement and community resilience, food security and sustainability, to wellness and safety. Through campus programs and/or student organizations, recipients will be able to continue and/or broaden their activities. 

Building Capacity for an Anti-Racist Campus Culture: Understanding Anti-Blackness in the United States. The new suite of 3 courses is free and open to all UCI students, faculty, staff and alumni. The courses combine reading and viewing materials with moderated conversation in a psychological safe space. 

• Black Protest Tradition: Why Are People Protesting in the Streets?
• Structures and Mechanism that Devalue Black People: Why Is It Necessary to Demand that Black Lives Matter?
• Authentic Allyship: Change the Culture through Personal, Professional and Institutional Accountability. 

Enhancing UCI’s Presence in the Community: Inclusive Excellence Speakers Bureau. This series brings UCI faculty and communities together around understanding the Black experience and the drivers of well-being in support of Black communities. Participating faculty will highlight the relationship of Black thriving communities to UCI’s mission as a public land grant university. Topical areas include: 

• Advance the American Dream           
• Transform Healthcare and Wellness
• Accelerate World Changing Research
• Explore the Human Experience.

Your Giving Day gift today will help us create a thriving campus culture. Together we can create a brilliant future.