As an aspiring 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, the mission of the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective is to support the education, appreciation, and performance of jazz at Yale and in New Haven by creating and advocating for increased opportunities on campus. YUJC aims to bring together jazz musicians, fans, and activists to cultivate a vibrant jazz community at Yale. Every academic year, YUJC organizes concerts showcasing professional artists, as well as masterclasses, lectures, jam sessions, and other events—all of which are free and open to the public. Notably, YUJC hosts the Underbrook Series every semester, and the Yale Jazz Festival every spring. Additionally, our members teach jazz history once a semester in Yale Splash and are piloting a lessons program to employ New Haven artists and benefit Yale and New Haven students. These programs demonstrate and develop the student and community demand for our advocacy efforts, which consist of meeting and negotiating with Yale administrators and making public press releases about the state of jazz at Yale. In addition to our own programming, YUJC advocates for Yale administrators to increase jazz curricular offerings on campus, lobbying for a jazz lessons program on par with the classical credited lessons program, credit for jazz combos (in order to make parity with credited classical ensembles), and a robust academic and performance-based jazz studies program.