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UC Merced is highlighting incoming first-year students for fall 2022 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

Edwin Casillas chose UC Merced for many reasons, he said. He likes the “little city” feel of the campus. He is drawn to the “friendly student environment.” And he loves soccer.

“I had the honor and privilege of being able to practice with the men’s soccer team during a training,” the graduating Sonora High School senior said, “and during that time, all the players and coaches were so welcoming, I felt at home.”

UC Merced’s Office of Sustainability’s Bobcat Eats Food Waste Awareness and Prevention Program, in partnership with United Way of Merced, Community Initiatives 4 Collective Impact and the 18th St. People’s Garden, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle.)

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.”

The UC Merced Community and Labor Center (CLC) has received a historic multimillion-dollar award to continue its mission of conducting research and educating the public about low-wage work, immigrant and workers' rights, workplace health and safety, among other issues.

UC Merced continues to pave the way to success for students of color to thrive at a four-year college. To continue to support these efforts, the campus, in collaboration with Stanislaus State, announced the expansion of the 1300 Campaign, an initiative aimed to send an additional 1,300 young people of color into the UC and California State University (CSU) systems by 2030

The 1300 Campaign will focus on high school students in the Northern Central Valley, including the areas of Modesto, Merced and San Joaquin counties.

After a three-year delay due to the pandemic, Bobcat Day is back at UC Merced. The day is dedicated to first-year students, transfer students and their families to explore all the campus has to offer.

On Saturday, April 23, incoming students can take campus tours, meet with faculty, attend presentations from each of the academic schools, talk to Financial Aid and Admissions staff, discover student clubs and organizations, and much more.

Yosemite National Park is once again serving as the backdrop for a loose adaptation of one of Shakespeare's comedies. Shakespeare in Yosemite's "Love's Labor's Lost" will finally hit the stage at the Curry Village Amphitheater later this month. The show was initially planned for 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A team of UC Merced engineering students brought hands-on lessons on drones and robotics to hundreds of children and families at the recent Tri-Valley Innovation Fair.

“Drones and robots are a gateway, a spark for young people to explore STEM,” said Leigh Bernacchi, program director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute at UC Merced, who led the students in the all-day demonstrations at the March 19 fair.

Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant workers in California could receive aid from an unemployment benefit system if the state approves the program. UC Merced's Community and Labor Center (CLC) has published a report that examines the need for the system.

The new UC Merced Bobcat STEM Scholars Program, funded by a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), will provide four years of scholarship support for up to 10 eligible incoming students per year who declare majors within the university’s School of Natural Sciences (SNS).