UC Merced will celebrate hundreds of graduates alongside their friends and families in the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre this weekend. There are 402 Bobcats set to participate in the fall commencement ceremonies in downtown Merced.
The festivities begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, with the Graduate Division commencement ceremony.
Undergraduate ceremonies will take place Saturday, Dec. 21. Graduates from the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts will be celebrated starting at 9 a.m. A ceremony for students from the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Engineering will begin at noon.
Yuriana Aguilar-Sanchez, a professor of biology at Texas A&M University, will speak to advancing graduate students. It will be a homecoming for Aguilar-Sanchez, who enrolled at UC Merced in 2007 after emigrating from Mexico at age 5. She overcame financial barriers raised because of her undocumented immigration status.
After earning her undergraduate degree, Aguilar-Sanchez worked in Professor Ariel L. Escobar's lab. A year later, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program made it possible for her to begin working on a doctoral degree in quantitative systems biology, focusing on the autonomic nervous system regulation over the heart's function. Earlier this year, Aguilar-Sanchez joined the faculty at Texas A&M, starting a research lab that studies the effects of diabetes on the heart.
Lourdes Castro Ramírez, president and chief executive officer of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, will address undergraduates. Castro Ramírez assumed the lead role for HACLA this month after serving for a year as the city's chief housing and homeless officer. Previously, Castro Ramírez was secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, leading dozens of boards and bureaus responsible for improving affordable housing, reducing homelessness, and protecting consumers.
Commencement schedule:
Graduate Division
Friday, Dec. 20, 6 p.m.
School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Saturday, Dec. 21, 9 a.m.
School of Engineering and School of Natural Sciences
Saturday, Dec. 21, noon
Tickets have been distributed to graduating students and are required for admission to the commencement ceremonies. Free parking will be available at multiple lots in the downtown area. Space is limited and carpooling is encouraged.
Guests are asked to arrive early and allow at least 30 minutes for parking, walking to the venue and finding a seat. Seating is first come, first served for ticketed guests. Guests must be seated prior to the start of the processional.
Those who won't be able to celebrate graduates in person can watch a livestream on the university's commencement webpage.
