Following the 2014 Isla Vista tragedy, during which a resident student went on a killing spree that left six people dead, UCSB began exploring different ways to build community. Professor Jeffrey Stewart, a Black Studies professor, decided to combine his expertise in the history of jazz with an effort to provide a space for community building, an effort that has led to a $1 million MacArthur endowment.
Jeffrey’s Jazz Coffeehouse started as a pop-up coffeehouse in Isla Vista run by Stewart and Sociology Professor Victor Rios with live music, spoken word, and discussions on important issues such as gender identity. They took a multidisciplinary approach to their project, involving UCSB art professor Kim Yasuda and other graduate art students.
The pair were always fighting for funding for their pop-up coffeehouse, so Rios approached Stewart with an opportunity to expand their project through the MacArthur chair position. After finding out that the MacArthur Foundation wanted to focus on equity in the criminal justice system, Rios felt that the chair position would be a perfect fit for both himself and Stewart.