 UCSC students are known for political activism . In 2005 , a Pentagon surveillance program deemed student opposition to military recruiters on campus a " credible threat , " the only campus antiwar action to receive the designation . In February 2006 , Chancellor Denice Denton got the designation removed . Military recruiters declined to return to UCSC the following year , but returned in 2008 to a more low @-@ keyed student reception and protests using elements of guerrilla theatre , rather than vandalism or physical violence . Thanks to students passing a $ 3 quarterly tuition increase to support buying renewable energy in 2006 , UCSC is the sixth @-@ largest buyer of renewable energy among college campuses nationwide . 
