Commencement

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.

Neither chilly temperatures nor a thick blanket of dense fog could dampen the smiles and spirits of hundreds of Bobcats as they participated in UC Merced's Fall 2022 Commencement. Nearly 450 graduates took part in three separate ceremonies at the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre.

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.

A wave of blue and gold covered the recreation fields at UC Merced as more than 2,400 students walked the stage during the first in-person spring commencement in three years.

The three-day ceremony weekend started by welcoming back 1,000 alumni from the classes of 2020 and 2021 — who were previously honored with a virtual ceremony because of COVID-19.

In front of more than 1,400 fellow Bobcats, Cathryn Flores and Maya Morris, the student commencement speakers for the Class of 2022 will share their words of congratulations and encouragement with their fellow graduates.

Flores will speak to the graduates of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, at the university’s Recreation Field. The Fremont native is majoring in English and minoring in writing. She said her four years at UC Merced have molded her into the person she is today.

For the first time since spring 2019, UC Merced will honor the achievements of spring graduates with a traditional in-person commencement weekend this month.

“We are proud of all these young people who worked so diligently, with the support of their families, their friends and our outstanding faculty and staff, to earn their degrees,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz. “This on-campus weekend will be a grand celebration of their accomplishments and a fitting start to the lives of success upon which they will embark.”

Na’ilah Suad Nasir has adjusted to Chicago winters as much as a native Californian can. She owns a snow shovel and knows how to use it. She purchased a big, warm coat.

“They say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing,” Nasir said, speaking from her office at The Spencer Foundation, a Chicago-based organization that invests in nationwide research into education with an eye toward improving equity and diversity.

After two years of virtual celebrations, UC Merced will honor the accomplishments of the fall 2021 graduates with a traditional in-person commencement this Saturday.

In addition, the campus is also inviting summer 2021 graduates who had their commencement affected by the pandemic to join the celebration Dec. 18, at The Art Kamangar Center at The Merced Theatre in downtown Merced.

In Dr. Carrie L. Byington, the novel coronavirus met a formidable foe.

As an expert in infectious disease, Byington has been uniquely suited to use her role as executive vice president and head of University of California Health (UCH) to battle the virus that triggered a global pandemic. On April 26, UCH announced it had administered 1 million doses through a statewide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

The pandemic has changed many aspects of life, but UC Merced Bobcats demonstrated their ability to overcome life's unexpected curveballs during an academic year unlike any other.

To ensure each student’s accomplishments are celebrated, UC Merced will host its second virtual spring commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, for the Class of 2021.