More than 1,000 UC Merced students are out in the community doing volunteer work that changes lives, including their own. They tutor second-graders and mentor high schoolers, clean up neighborhoods, and prepare meals for people experiencing homelessness.
Some traveled last year to a Native American reservation to partner with residents to address food insecurity and learn from the tribe’s agricultural heritage.
How do you take a university further?
For UC Merced’s chancellor, the answer starts with record-setting enrollment and extends to student opportunities, strong community connections, and new homes for students, academics and research, along with an ever-growing national reputation.
Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz pointed to the future and celebrated the university’s people and achievements in his annual State of the University address Oct. 21 before a gathering of UC Merced Foundation trustees, elected officials and members of the campus community.
Climate change is a global crisis and the search for solutions is increasingly technological. A new, 700-page volume edited by a UC Merced sociologist demonstrates that moving people, institutions and communities to act may be just as consequential.
Seven hand-chosen, whip-smart UC Merced students descend on Austin, Texas, this week to pit their teamwork and business skills against representatives of other Hispanic-serving institutions in a high-pressure — and potentially highly rewarding — competition.
First, there’s the contest. Every team in the HSI Battle of the Brains gets the same brief about something a company needs. Squads then have 24 hours to assemble an imaginative, airtight and technically sound solution.
UCLA was a huge change for Jose León. The college transfer student from a small town and a tight-knit extended family struggled to relate to classmates from bigger cities.
Then, at a student resource fair, León met Robin Bueno, the coordinator of a UCLA-based program that helped Native American college students stay on course in their studies. She invited him and other students to a family barbecue.
A smiling throng of new faces took part Tuesday in one of UC Merced’s oldest traditions, the Scholars Bridge Crossing.
Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and other campus leaders led the march over the bridge. Blue and gold balloons arced over the span, which was lined with cheering staff, faculty and current students. “Let’s go, Bobcats!” they chanted.
The procession then passed through the Beginnings sculpture, signifying the start of the students’ academic journeys at UC Merced. During commencement ceremonies, graduates go through Beginnings again, in the other direction.
The growing energy across campus is palpable as UC Merced prepares for its 21st academic year. Fall semester instruction begins Wednesday, Aug. 26, furthering the mission of one of the nation’s top public research universities to provide knowledge and opportunity to a vibrant and diverse student body.
Orientation sessions and move-in days for on-campus student residents began the week of Aug. 17, leading a slate of welcome-to-campus activities.
Digging for stories in a Gold Rush town that vanished in flames 170 years ago. Pinging brainwaves for reactions from sentences that slide between Spanish and English. Fortifying students’ skills and confidence with a practice called powerwriting.
These ventures are among nearly a dozen UC Merced research projects made possible by the Chancellor’s Catalyst Awards, an initiative designed to spur compelling inquiry in the humanities and social sciences.
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.
Peyton Smith brings a love of water sports, an interest in medicine and a goal to work as a pediatrician to UC Merced. The Fresno student brings a deep resume of public service in high school to her Bobcat career.
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.
Tayven Tipler won’t travel far from his hometown when he starts at UC Merced and he is already well along on his higher education journey. Tipler completed several courses at Merced College as a high school student.
Where I come from: I live in Atwater, where I was born and raised. I graduated this spring from Buhach Colony High School.
