What is the Cultural Arts & Diversity Resource Center?
The Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center (CADrc) enhances the cultural climate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and its surrounding communities by first, celebrating diversity. Through our access to resources and services we provide cultural awareness and diversity, build collaborative partnerships and community outreach, enhance retention, recruit, and provide opportunities for leadership and educational development. Our resource center houses two student-led theatres that put on quality productions, four academic courses, a series of lectures and workshops, two outreach teams, and hosts professional productions. These services are available year round and provide our community with art, culture, and diverse education.
Artistic Director of CADrc, Donald G. Williams
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Don Williams brings over 35 years of experience in theater production, performance, and mentorship to his role as Artistic Director of the Cultural Arts and Diversity resource center (CAD). He is the founder, producer, and director of the African American Theater Arts Troupe and Rainbow Theater, which offer diverse, empowering theater performances to the campus and to under-resourced high schools throughout California. He earned his B.A. in theater arts with a minor in telecommunications at Michigan State University and studied directing and theater history at the University of Southern California.
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ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS
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Rainbow Theatre
Our fall program, Rainbow, produces plays selected by students in a spring 5-credit course. Auditions are held in fall quarter, and since 1993 Rainbow has cast diverse actors for shows focusing on the experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Chicanx / Latinx Americans. Since Fall 2016 this course has fulfilled the Ethnicity and Race general education requirement. In the 2018 - 2019 school year we celebrated 25 years of creating community and engaging the campus in culturally enriching performances. |
African American Theatre Arts Troupe
Our winter program, AATAT, was founded in 1991 to centralize African American roles in theatre. Notable productions include Fences(1998), recently made into a film, and Ruined (2012). The African American Theatre History class (offered every spring) chooses the next year’s show. Since 1993, five AATAT students in good academic standing have been chosen annually to receive over $100,000 worth of scholarships fundraised by AATAT and our generous donors. |
Outreach
Every quarter, CAD sponsors an outreach team to connect with high school students of color and discuss how college is attainable for them. Through theatre games and personal stories, the team offers information on financial aid and extra-curricular activities available at the UCSC campus that cater to communities of color. Rainbow heads out every fall to Los Angeles, AATAT focuses on the Monterey Bay area in winter, and CAD sends a team each spring to the Bay area. |
