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Remarks and Writings

Don't Miss This News: A Great Start to the 2018-19 Academic Year

September 16, 2018
Dear Campus Community, I write to you today in celebration of some significant milestones in our campus’s young history, and with gratitude for all the hard work so many of you have put into building a university that is now truly coming into its own. Last spring, the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) came to town... Read More

New Year, New Buildings, New Opportunities

August 21, 2018
Dear Students, Welcome to an exciting new year at UC Merced! I’d like to extend a special welcome to our new first-year, transfer and graduate students. Although your first days on a new campus can be daunting, soon you will develop new relationships, learn how to get around and find everything you need, and begin exploring the many... Read More

Thank you

May 15, 2018
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... Read More

Lessening the Grip of Fear

May 1, 2018
Dear Campus Community, I know many of us have been concerned about possible threats to our campus community caused by a Facebook post by one of our students. The post that created the alarm included a photo of a man who committed a mass shooting, killing six people and wounding eight others, in Isla Vista in May 2014. As soon as Public... Read More

A More Civil Discourse

March 7, 2018
Dear Campus Community, Yesterday, a group of our students were tabling on Scholars Lane, with signs that promoted messages that were clearly intended to create an unwelcome environment for our nearly 600 undocumented students. The incident disturbed many of us, as it runs counter to UC Merced’s Principles of Community . Our... Read More

Looking Ahead to 2030

March 6, 2018
Dear Campus Community, It is hard to believe, but in just six months the first buildings of UC Merced’s unprecedented, international award-winning campus expansion will open. When the project is entirely complete in Fall 2020, it will provide much-needed space for teaching, research, student housing, athletics and student life. Yet,... Read More

Engaging With Students

February 6, 2018
Hello UC Merced Bobcats, I hope your spring semester is off to a good start! One of my favorite hobbies is photography, so I don’t mind our damp foggy mornings and the great atmosphere they create, but spring is right around the corner! Like you, I have already had a very busy semester. Yesterday, I was in Arizona for the Higher... Read More

Update from the Board of Regents meeting

January 25, 2018
Dear Campus Community,   Yesterday I spoke to the regents about the need for increased funding for our young campus and how we would use a proposed in-state undergraduate tuition increase — or, as is our preference, a state buyout of that increase — to support core instructional needs.   After a long debate, the... Read More

UC Merced Undocumented Immigrants

January 22, 2018
Dear Campus Community,  Last week I traveled with Boe Mendewala to Washington, D.C., to urge members of Congress to pursue a clean Dream Act to protect the nearly 600 undocumented students at UC Merced and thousands more throughout the nation. Boe, an undocumented student from India pursuing her Ph.D. in physics at UC Merced, was a... Read More

Reflecting on Academic Freedom, Free Speech and Hate Speech

January 16, 2018
Dear Campus Community, I want to extend a warm welcome back after what I hope was a restful, refreshing break spent with family and friends. As I reflect on a year that was full of changes, challenges and some great successes, and look ahead to a new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about our university’s core values, enshrined in our... Read More

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