Undergraduate Student Advocates for Youth at Empowerment Event
Kimberly Ramirez Gonzalez has been advocating for youth for four years and she is committed to dedicating the rest of her life to doing so.
Kimberly Ramirez Gonzalez has been advocating for youth for four years and she is committed to dedicating the rest of her life to doing so.
When Mario Banuelos was 12, his mother took him into the fields to tie grape vines.
The labor was tough and the wages were meager. After just one day on the job, Banuelos knew that his path in life would be different. He worked even harder in school and earned nearly straight As. His efforts paid off when he was selected for the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholars program.
More than 3,700 individuals visited UC Merced last Saturday during the campus’s annual Bobcat Day — a 26 percent increase over 2017 and more than any previous year.
At the 14th annual UC Merced Leadership Awards, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty advisors and student organizations were celebrated Hollywood style — complete with cameras, lights and a “red carpet” entrance — for their service to the campus community and beyond.
The odds of Tomanik’e Banks graduating from college were slim — only slightly lower than the odds she’d go to college at all.
But Banks had one thing going for her that many others don’t. Determination.
When Banks crosses the commencement stage May 12, she’ll be one of only about 3 percent of foster youth to graduate from college.
This weekend, 1,250 UC Merced undergraduate and graduate students, including 52 doctoral candidates — the most in the campus’s 12-year history — are expected to cross the commencement stage and embark on the next chapter of their lives.
“Commencement is the culmination of years of determination and is an exciting time for graduates and their families,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “We are thrilled to celebrate the courage, commitment and spirit of UC Merced students.”
Last month, the UC Merced Alumni Association (UCMAA) established the UC Merced Alumni Association Journey Endowment with $25,000 it collected through fundraising efforts to support initiatives throughout campus.
Over the past several years, UC Merced alumni — especially UCMAA board members — have directed contributions to the alumni association to support the educational journeys of current and future students.
A generous gift from the grandmother of a UC Merced alumna and current staff member is benefitting two undergraduate students who put the UC Merced Library to good use.
Melissa Becerra, a third-year psychology student, and Nathan Parmeter, who graduates this week, are the first recipients of the Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence.
UC Merced’s exuberant spring graduates got the chance to demonstrate their gratitude during the 13th Spring Commencement ceremonies this weekend as many of them paused to thank the faculty members and loved ones who helped them through their college journeys.
During the two ceremonies, UC Merced graduated more than 1,200 students, conferring 1,151 bachelor’s degrees, 18 master’s degrees and a record 49 doctoral degrees.
UC Merced public health graduate student Erendira “Dida” Estrada's master’s thesis, “Development of a participatory health communication intervention: An ecological approach to reducing rural information inequality and health disparities,” was named Thesis of the Year by the Health Communication divisions of the two most prestigious associations in communication — the International Communication Association (ICA) and the National Communication Association (NCA).
