Campus Community

Araceli Hernandez could have been playing video games, swimming or sleeping in over summer break, but instead she was doing math. And she’s happy about it.

Hernandez took part in one of three summer programs on campus developed by UC Merced’s Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) with funding from U.S. Department of Education Trio grants aimed at increasing the number of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who complete high school and enroll in and complete their postsecondary education.

Taking part in a summer program can help students develop new skills, get hands-on experience, meet other students with similar interests and get a taste of college life. It’s also a plus on college applications — it shows that the student is committed to learning.

For elementary, middle and high school students from Merced, Fresno and beyond, UC Merced has been the perfect place to participate in a variety of special summer learning opportunities.

Last fall, Turlock native Marcus DeCouto reminded the sports scene that UC Merced consistently brings some of the top freshmen to the California Pacific Conference.

DeCouto, now a sophomore midfielder on the Bobcats’ men’s soccer team, became the first Cal Pac player since 2015 to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a single season. To little surprise, he was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.

Fred Ruiz’s support of UC Merced goes back decades and includes substantial contributions through philanthropy, advocacy and service.

For his commitment to UC Merced and to education in the San Joaquin Valley, Ruiz has been named this year’s winner of the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education.

A new two-year project at UC Merced aims to bring academic and non-academic researchers together to recast the role of the humanities in public policy and, ultimately, improve the lives of San Joaquin Valley residents.

The collaborative project, entitled “Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley: Community Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” involves scholars and community organizations.

Shakespeare wrote “the play’s the thing.” Of course, he was referring to using a play to catch a murderer, but in Shakespeare’s day, people believed the theater had the power to elicit deep emotion — even move the guilty to give themselves away.

Bobcats are catching on to the power of theater in Merced.

First impressions count, maybe now more than ever. But what if those impressions are based on lies?

People’s willingness to believe even the most outrageous “information” they get is so remarkable that researchers have been studying this phenomenon — more recently given the current political divide in America — and trying to explain why facts don’t sway people’s beliefs.

Three enterprising Global Arts Studies Program (GASP) students saw the empty UC Merced Art Gallery on campus and, worried the space would be reallocated, wondered why they couldn’t volunteer to run it.

So they started the Young Artist Movement (YAM) — a “guerilla” group that expanded through word of mouth to 17, then bloomed to more than 50 members. YAM was a finalist for the Division of Student Affairs’ Best New Club or Organization award.

In creating scholarships to help future generations of Bobcats succeed, UC Merced staff members and alumnae Monique de Villa (’16) and Danielle Armedilla (’12) are cementing the legacy they are leaving for campus.  

De Villa and Armedilla were honored for their generous contributions at last month’s scholarship signing ceremony on Bobcat Day — a thank-you tradition that began a few years ago.

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.