Dear Faculty and Staff,
Commencement weekend is a highlight of the academic year, and this year we were blessed with two days of great weather, inspiring speakers, talented singers, and a joyous celebration of our wonderful students and their families.
I am so very grateful to each of you who not only spent your working hours dedicated to these terrific ceremonies, but also volunteered your personal time — including, for many of you, sacrificing your Mother’s Day morning — to ensure that our students had the best and most memorable graduation experience possible. Faculty participated in record numbers — and seeing their faculty mentors at commencement was obviously very meaningful to the students.
Now that we have celebrated our graduates, it’s time to share our appreciation for our staff, who work so hard behind the scenes to support our faculty and students. Tomorrow marks the beginning of another one of my favorite annual traditions: Staff Appreciation Week .
I encourage you all to participate to whatever extent you can, from Tuesday’s breakfast all the way through Friday’s picnic. Please take some much deserved time to relax, have fun and enjoy each other’s company — you have earned it.
We’re just three short months away from moving into the first three buildings of the Merced 2020 Project, with 10 more buildings in the works — all of which will enable us to better serve our students, expand our faculty, and support our teaching, research and service missions.
It is a dynamic and exciting time to be here at UC Merced, and I am so proud to be standing alongside you on this remarkable journey.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Leland
Chancellor
