Leadership

The Hmong Student Association will host its eighth annual educational conference for high school students on Nov. 15.

Jefferson Kuoch-Seng is now the official voice for the University of California’s roughly 240,000 students — the first UC Merced student ever to serve in that role.

Shy in high school, Rachel Fang didn’t want to follow the same pattern as a UC Merced student.

“I decided that I was going to change,” Fang said. “I wanted to be more outspoken.”

A two-day visit to Yosemite gave University of California President Janet Napolitano an up-close look at UC Merced’s partnership with the neighboring national park, including some of the students whose lives have been transformed by their experiences there.

At two weekend ceremonies, UC Merced conferred degrees on more than 1,000 commencement candidates who said goodbye to the campus they called home for the past four or more years of their lives.

Students Jamie Sweet and Vanessa Estavillo have much more in common than a love of UC Merced, a legacy of leadership and being members of the Class of 2014.

Five words from one of American history’s most famous speeches inspired Dalton Rogers to contribute to society.

He was called to public service in high school when he read President John F. Kennedy’s call to action — "ask what you can do.”

Graduate school is a constant state of discovery, something UC Merced alumna Jackie Shay credits for her current passion: fungus.

The University of California, Merced, has selected CEO of Enduring Hydro LLC and former U.S. Undersecretary for Energy Kristina Johnson and Merced County Superior Court Judge Paul C. Lo to deliver keynote addresses at its ninth commencement, May 17 and 18.

With more than 1,400 students eligible to graduate, UC Merced marks another milestone with its largest graduating class in history, surpassing the 898-member graduating class a year ago.

The campus will again hold two school-based ceremonies to accommodate students and their families.

A day off meant a day of service for some UC Merced students and staff and faculty members who volunteered to help spruce up Luther Burbank Elementary School in Merced as part of the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.