School

Nearly 1,500 students plan to participate in UC Merced's Spring 2023 Commencement that will be celebrated with three distinct ceremonies on the campus's Recreation Field.

The first ceremony kicks off Friday, May 12, at 6 p.m. for the Graduate Division. Forty-one master's candidates and 61 Ph.D. candidates will cross the stage and be recognized during the ceremony.

The excitement was palpable at UC Merced as a record number of people descended on the campus for Bobcat Day. More than 5,700 students, family members and friends attended the annual open house event April 22 to learn about the university and its offerings.

First-year student Edwin Casillas found everything he was looking for in a university — and more — at UC Merced. Nearly a year after the Sonora native said he "felt at home" when visiting the campus, he is confident he made the right decision to become a Bobcat.

"Romeo and Juliet" is considered William Shakespeare's most famous romantic tragedy. But this Earth Day weekend, it will be transformed into a new production that will offer hope for the future of the environment.

UC Merced is hosting its annual open house event Saturday, April 22, to give admitted, prospective and transfer students the opportunity to learn more about what the university has to offer.

Bobcat Day kicks off at 9 a.m. with a campus information fair, as well as tours of the campus, housing and labs. Attendees are invited to the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Quad, where Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz will provide welcome remarks.

For the second year, UC Merced's Student Alumni Association (SAA) and Office of Alumni Relations have partnered to host Student Philanthropy Month in March. The monthlong initiative is dedicated to building a culture of philanthropy and awareness at UC Merced.

UC Merced once again broke a record for the number of first-year applications the university received, continuing to show impressive growth even as the national trend shows a decline in the number of students enrolling in higher education.

More than 26,000 prospective first-year, or freshmen, students applied for admission to the university. And nearly 4,000 students applied to transfer to UC Merced. Most of the applicants are from California.

While growing up in the Sacramento area, Donald Carter ('21) said he didn't see many people who looked like him pursuing higher education. As the oldest of four boys in a single-parent household, he spent most of his time setting examples instead of learning from them.

But after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School and deciding to attend UC Merced, Carter realized he could use his experiences to guide other students who may have had similar upbringings.

After transferring from a Sacramento community college to UC Merced in 2007, Maxine Umeh-Garcia was unsure of her future career. She admits she hadn’t looked at the majors the newest UC offered before applying and imagined she’d teach high school math.

She met with her academic advisor and learned the campus offered an applied mathematics major, not pure mathematics. They discussed other options and came to a stalemate.

Longtime UC Merced supporters Dr. Vikram and Priya Lakireddy were recently honored as part of an intimate event to mark the official dedication of the campus ballroom bearing their names.