During this year’s Give Tue UC Merced annual 24-hour campaign of giving, participants will have more options to which to direct their support, including a new fund that assists with the emerging and unique needs of student groups as the campus grows.

UC Merced alumnus Daniel Lobato (’13) always planned to give back to the campus that provided him an education.

As a student, Lobato started with modest donations during the university’s annual Giving Tuesday fundraiser, which returns Nov. 28 as Give Tue UC Merced.

For the past three years, members of the UC Merced community and friends have made the Tuesday after Thanksgiving a showstopper for our campus.

More than 22,000 students applied to UC Merced for the Fall 2017 semester, and about 2,300 are now beginning their educational journeys on campus. Among those, 24 rose to the top of the class to be named Regents Scholars, recipients of the University of California’s most prestigious scholarship award.

First-year student Michael Grey is one of those select 24, having proven himself through determination and diligence. He said taking advanced placement and honors courses in high school in Antelope, just north of Sacramento, motivated him to succeed academically.

Saturday’s annual Journey 5K Fund Run has special meaning for the UC Merced community.

Last November, the campus lost Ryan Nunez — head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country teams — in a tragic motorcycle accident.

Since 2006, 10 UC Merced undergraduates have been awarded the prestigious Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship. This year, two more joined their ranks.

The seventh annual Building Future Champions Dinner and Auctio

Campus friends and supporters were recognized for their charitable spirit at UC Merced’s third annual Celebration of Philanthropic Leaders event, held on campus March 25.

Giving Tuesday UC Merced, the campus’s annual campaign to raise money for scholarships and fellowships, generated more than $700,000 in about 24 hours. Close to 750 individuals — including students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members — participated in the campaign, and many donated more than once throughout the day. This concerted effort led to the third-annual event raising more than twice as much as last year.

A contribution from Yara North America will provide the University of California, Merced, with the potential to take agricultural research to a new level of innovation and improve crop yields, particularly in almonds.