UC Merced is no stranger to innovation and disrupting traditional modes in higher education.
Whether it is funding the university’s Merced 2020 Project through an unprecedented, award-winning public-private partnership or making a University of California education accessible to first-generation and underrepresented students, UC Merced has established itself as a top-notch university.
For the second straight year, UC Merced surpassed its goal of 1,000 donors in a single day for the Give Tue UC Merced campaign.
Over $170,000 was raised — with the help of a generous matching gift from Foster Poultry Farms — for the Build the Future Scholarship Fund. In five years of the university’s annual day of giving, over $1.5 million has been raised through donations and matching gifts, including a previous gift from the Wells Fargo Foundation.
When UC Merced senior Kevin Citalan thought about what he was thankful for as the Thanksgiving holiday grew near, he instantly thought of a turbulent time during the summer.
In August, Citalan, a Los Angeles native, was trying to complete paperwork to apply for a double major in cognitive science and management and business economics. Citalan, a former foster youth who is part of the university’s Guardian Scholars program, says it was the hardest three weeks of his academic career.
Before David Do earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from UC Merced, he helped spearhead a Valentine’s Day card campaign that convinced First Lady Michelle Obama to give the commencement address to the first graduating class.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum was honored Monday as the 12th distinguished recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance at the Art Kamangar Center at Merced Theater in downtown Merced.
Menchú Tum discussed her life in front of a full house at the theater, highlighting her continued battle for social justice in her home country of Guatemala. Menchú Tum signed copies of her autobiography “Crossing Borders” at the end of the event.
It’s the crown jewel of sustainability — a platinum certification signifying all the steps to making a space sustainable have been met.
For UC Merced, platinum certification had eluded the Green Labs and Green Offices programs. That changed recently when the Office of the Chancellor achieved platinum Green Offices status and biology labs directed by School of Natural Sciences instructional lab coordinator Jim Whalen secured platinum Green Labs certification.
It’s that time of year again - time to show your Bobcat pride at UC Merced’s annual Homecoming celebration.
Students, staff, faculty, alumni and the community are welcome to the two-day event, which will include a downtown block party for the first time.
The event kicks off Friday at the Downtown Campus Center (DCC). Since its opening in January, the DCC has helped revitalize downtown Merced and, from 6-11 p.m., it will be the site of new Homecoming events.
Two multimillion-dollar grants aimed at increasing high school graduation and college-going rates in the San Joaquin Valley will benefit students in Tulare and Fresno counties at least through 2025.
If UC Merced’s Center for Educational Partnerships has its way, the benefits will last much longer than that.
The UC Merced Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) has been awarded two GEAR UP grants from the U.S. Department of Education to implement a Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GU Project) in two school districts.
UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland and Merced Mayor Mike Murphy welcomed the Bay Area Council to Merced on Thursday for a robust discussion on potential future connections between Merced and the Bay Area.
“Today we are focusing on the economic potential of building greater interconnectedness, which would have major benefits to both regions,” Leland said. “It’s not just about creating a bedroom community here. We will be attracting businesses and industries that will help lift Merced, the Valley and the state.”
Michael Pierick’s road to presenting as part of the UC Merced delegation at this week’s UC Board of Regents meeting started in 2012, with a pit stop on the way to a basketball tryout at Sonoma State.
Both of Pierick’s parents attended UCLA and encouraged him to check out the newest UC campus while driving to Sonoma from San Diego, where Pierick was finishing his senior year at Rancho Bernardo High School.
“When I got to campus, it was just this close-knit community,” Pierick said. “I could really be the person I wanted to be.”
