UC Santa Cruz - Giving: Jones profile

Stories of Support

Tremain Jones, UCSC Alumni Association Scholarship recipient and featured speaker at the 2005 Scholarships Benefit Dinner.

Tremain Jones

Chancellor Denton, distinguished faculty, staff, and honored guests. I am proud and humbled to be here to speak to you this evening.

Supporting educational opportunity is of critical importance because of the key role education plays in building a stable and just world. Perhaps some of you may be asking yourself, "What do scholarships have to do with supporting a stable and just world?" I hope by the end of my remarks, that connection will be clear.

I am not going to tell you anything new tonight. I am not here to teach you anything. I am, however, here to remind you of a few things you already know.

I remember four years ago, in an introductory anthropology course, I read an ethnography about a click-speaking people called the !Kung people, also known as the Khoi San of the Kalahari. The anthropologist who wrote the ethnography described one Christmas when he wanted to do something special to repay the people of the village he was studying. He searched for days for the fattest, healthiest ox he could buy to serve at the coming feast as a gesture of appreciation.

On the day of the feast, he presented his ox and was expecting a little praise for his efforts. Instead of praise, however, the Khoi San ridiculed the animal as a skinny, meatless, bag of bones unfit to be eaten by anyone.

The anthropologist was puzzled. He couldn’t understand how the Khoi San could degrade his contribution—his gift. It wasn’t until the next day that his informant came to him and told him that all gifts are treated in such a manner so as not to create prestige in the community. No one person is treated with more respect than any other, and if the Khoi San had praised his efforts, it would have diminished the contributions of others, no matter how small or large their contribution may be.

The lesson I learned from reading that ethnography was not that good gifts go un-rewarded, but that gifts play such a huge role in the community that all members benefit from them. Contributing, so that all may be elevated in equal status, is the reward—the net good of the gifting action.

I have been the fortunate beneficiary of many gifts in my life, but none compares to the gift of opportunity I received when I won a scholarship to attend UC Santa Cruz.

My family moved to East Palo Alto in 1994, when I was 12 years old. Two years prior to our arrival, East Palo Alto had more murders per capita than any other city in the United States. During my upbringing, the city was riddled with crime and poverty. I recall the struggle my own family had to make to survive.

Although I did not grow up in a conventional family with a father, mother, and siblings living in a single household, I was privileged to have a grandmother who passed on age-old wisdom and practical knowledge. I had brothers who weren’t the best role models but whose mistakes I learned from. And I had a mother who wasn’t the most moral person but who struggled hard to keep food in the cupboard.

It was instilled in me at an early age that the way to break free was to become enlightened—to fill my mind with as much knowledge has possible. I worked hard to stay in school but couldn’t neglect my familial obligations. The day I was eligible to work, I got a job. When I was old enough to attend college, I enrolled at my local community college. I remember the days when I worked two jobs, attended school full-time, and still didn’t have enough money for adequate food. It was hard because I wanted so much for my family, and there just wasn’t enough money to keep us going.

I was able to attend UCSC because of the Karl Pister Leadership Opportunity Awards program. Established by former UCSC Chancellor Karl Pister, the program offers generous scholarships to up to 13 regional community college students each year that wouldn’t otherwise be able to transfer to UCSC.

For me, the Pister scholarship was the opportunity of a lifetime. It opened doors I hadn’t even dreamed of, including the chance to travel to Borneo, where I will study orangutans in their natural habitat this coming January. Imagine, a kid from East Palo Alto in Borneo.

I am proof of the life-changing power of giving. To me, the remarkable thing about giving is its unique ability to stabilize our community by offering opportunities and that chance to participate fully.

Giving the gift of education evokes change in the world. Both education and gifting spark better relations between people. Both education and gifting facilitate empathy and compassion. They share a spirit of generosity, growth, optimism, and progress.

Your generous support of scholarships and fellowships at UCSC changes the lives of individuals and, like the proverbial pebble in the pond, your gifts ripple outward, inspiring others and shaping our community.

I thank everyone here tonight for their generosity, and I am particularly grateful to those individuals who have helped me move forward in life. Thank you.