UC Merced Celebrates Newest Batch of College Students with College Signing Day

UC Merced Aerial Picture
By Kenneth Mashinchi
May 6, 2019
A slideshow of the College Signing Day event at UC Merced

UC Merced welcomed more than 500 students from across the San Joaquin Valley to campus Wednesday to celebrate College Signing Day.

Every student was a high school senior who will move on to higher education in the fall. Seven colleges and universities were represented, including UC Merced, Fresno State, Stanislaus State and CSU Bakersfield.

The event at UC Merced coincided with a larger College Signing Day event at UCLA — put on by former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher foundation — and Obama gave the keynote address.

“I know a lot of you have been counted out,” Obama said. “Maybe your parents didn’t get to go to college. Maybe you were like me and somebody told you that you weren't college material.

“Ask yourself whether you’re going to believe the haters or the honest truth of your own story.”

Jose Hernandez, Ph.D. — a former NASA astronaut, previous UC Merced Commencement speaker and UC Santa Barbara alum — spoke to students at UC Merced’s event. He discussed growing up in Stockton and how his father provided him with a “recipe” for success after he decided he wanted to be an astronaut at 10 years old.

Students also watched the live stream of Obama’s speech and took part in a campus tour and lunch. UC Merced’s Center for Educational Partnerships hosted the event on campus.