Campus Community

Downtown Merced will be covered in a sea of blue and gold over two days as hundreds of UC Merced Bobcats take part in fall commencement. Also, for the first time, graduate students will have their own ceremony to celebrate their achievements.

The pomp and circumstance kick off with the inaugural Graduate Division Commencement Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16.

Throughout the year, the UC Merced Community Engagement Center (CEC) offers a variety of opportunities for students to work for the betterment of the area.

But at the holidays, faculty and staff are invited to take part as well.

Over Thanksgiving, the center raised money to purchase traditional holiday meals for 30 families — with turkey, potatoes, pie, cranberry sauce and a vegetable, said Vernette Doty, CEC director.

UC Merced’s commitment to keeping its students and their families informed about all the incredible opportunities the campus offers on Bobcat Day has been awarded first place in the Best Recruiting and Admissions category by the Modo Appademy Awards.

On Monday (Oct.31), UC Merced and Fresno City College (FCC) signed the Merced Promise Pathway Program memorandum of understanding (MOU). The signing of this MOU further extends access for transfer students in the Central Valley.

FCC is the largest community college in the Central Valley region. This partnership will provide students with a dedicated transfer counselor with expertise in UC Merced transfer admissions and knowledge of FCC support services.

    A temporary labyrinth has taken shape on the UC Merced campus.

    The labyrinth, which is an ancient pattern people walk to reflect, was
    built by master designer Lars Howlett. Marked by spray paint now,
    once the final design is determined, the path will be delineated by river
    rocks and decomposed granite.

The University of California, Merced, as the lead agency working in collaboration with partners from Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, was awarded a planning grant for $250,000 to plan and design streamlined pathways for students from high school to postsecondary education to the workforce.

UC Merced has added Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) to its list of partners signed to the Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP).

The ninth partnership will allow hundreds of VUSD students to be automatically accepted to UC Merced if they meet the university’s eligibility requirements.

The program allows students who complete the A-G courses for first-year UC admission with a weighted GPA of 3.5, with no grade lower than a "C," to be admitted to the university through a streamlined process.

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change warns that global health is at the mercy of fossil fuels. An accompanying policy brief states that an estimated 32,000 people in the U.S. died due to air pollution in 2020 alone; 37% of those deaths were directly related to fossil fuels.

Sociology Professor Charlie Eaton was a recent guest on the "Dr. Phil" talk show, where he discussed President Joe Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans. Ultimately, Eaton believes it will be "transformative for more than 40 million people who are going to have their debt reduced."