Undergraduate Students

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.

Drake Ledford was an exemplary high school student, earning a 4.29 GPA. The Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) recognized him as one of its top scholars. He was also honored as valedictorian for his class and a California Scholarship Federation Sealbearer, the highest level of recognition for academic achievement, at his graduation in June.

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.

One could say UC Merced has always been part of incoming Bobcats Ella and Satchel Ortez’s lives. The twins’ father worked for the 10th UC campus when it opened, and they lived with the campus as their backyard view until moving down Highway 99 in 2013.

A group of dedicated UC Merced alumni have come together to launch an endowed fund focused on supporting LGBTQ+ student initiatives, programs and priorities.

Spearheaded by University of California Regent Emeritus Keith Ellis ’12, the LGBTQ+ Lambda Student Engagement Endowment was created to foster a more inclusive and affirming environment for students from diverse sexual and gender identities, now and for generations to come.

Growing up in Watsonville, a vibrant agricultural community on California's Central Coast, Adamaris Alvarez always knew she wanted to work in agriculture. She worked on her family's berry ranch, Alvarez Farms, where she grew a deep appreciation for the hard work agriculture demands.

But it wasn't until she saw an Instagram post about an internship at UC Merced's Experimental Smart Farm that she realized she could help shape the future of farming.

UC Merced’s graduating Class of 2025 recently celebrated its achievement at the campus’s spring commencement, joined by family members, close friends and loved ones.

For two graduates, Jahaira Morales and Bryan Gutierrez, the ceremony also was an opportunity to meet with a couple of other individuals who have been invested in their higher-education journey at UC Merced – their scholarship benefactors, Dar Chen and Cheryl Matsubara.

Mariel Garcia accepted a welcoming handshake from the chief of staff for state Sen. Tim Grayson. A large photograph of rolling hills at sunset near Walnut Creek, a city in Grayson’s district, dominated a wall in the compact reception room.

“Good to meet you,” said the chief of staff, Aaron Moreno. “We’ll make sure to get whatever you need.”

Two UC Merced graduate students and an alum from the School of Natural Sciences were recently awarded fellowships from the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

This year, NSF awarded 1,000 GRFP fellowships compared to about 2,000 in previous years.

Imagine you're a farmer who uses a drip irrigation system on your crops. On watering day, you open the valve from the canal, then go to your orchard, maybe a few acres away, and wait. Once enough water arrives, you walk back and shut the valve. But that takes a long time and wastes water, a precious commodity in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

With cheers, hugs and leis, more than 1,500 UC Merced graduates received a celebratory sendoff to their bright futures as a prominent keynote speaker told them to make the most of the here and now.

Hundreds of families and friends joined the graduates in three days of commencement ceremonies at the university’s Recreation Field. White picket fences lined the processional path for graduates, faculty and campus leaders of the San Joaquin Valley’s only research institution.

The University of California, Merced, will celebrate the accomplishments of more than 1,500 students during its Spring 2025 Commencement ceremonies, to be held May 16 -18 on the UC Merced Recreation Field. The ceremonies will recognize graduates from all academic schools over three days of celebration.

The festivities begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 16, with the Graduate Division ceremony, honoring 120 students receiving master's and doctoral degrees.