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Remarks and Writings

Celebrating Black Excellence

February 3, 2023
Re: Celebrating Black Excellence To: All campus   This month we celebrate and lift up those whose stories have all too often been overlooked.   At UC Merced, we are particularly grateful to our Black leaders, pioneers and colleagues whose efforts have shaped this university and its trajectory. Black faculty continue to... Read More

Tyre Nichols

January 28, 2023
Re: Tyre Nichols To: All campus Jan. 28, 2023 This weekend we process the senseless and brutal treatment of yet another young Black man by officers sworn to protect and serve their citizens; this senseless act coming on the heels of violent and tragic events in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. And we wonder: how have we arrived at a... Read More

Welcome Back

January 17, 2023
Re: Welcome Back To: All campus Jan. 17, 2023   Dear campus community,   Welcome back to UC Merced for the spring semester of 2023. We hope to see great things happen on campus in coming months, such as the rollout of new public art and a groundbreaking for our long-awaited medical education building. Our new women... Read More

Furthering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

January 13, 2023
Re: Furthering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy To: All campus Jan. 13, 2023   Dear campus community,   On Monday we honor and celebrate the enduring legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a national holiday, one in which civic engagement and voluntarism are encouraged. The City of Merced and UC Merced... Read More

Dugan Named VC/Chief Information Officer

January 3, 2023
Re: Dugan Named VC/Chief Information Officer Jan. 3, 2023   To the UC Merced community,   I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Nick Dugan the university’s first Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer. Nick has served as interim Chief Information Officer since February.   He began at UC... Read More

Happy Holidays

December 14, 2022
Dear Campus Community, As we approach our annual holiday break, a period we hope can offer rest and renewal, I want to remind you of the extraordinary year we have had at UC Merced — the 20th anniversary year of our groundbreaking: Another record high first-year class joining our community. The launch of our Boldly... Read More

A New Designation for UC Merced

November 17, 2022
Re: A New Designation for UC Merced To: All campus Nov. 17, 2022   To the campus community,   UC Merced has been named an Agricultural Experiment Station by the University of California — the first time in more than half a century that a campus has been so designated.   This new designation by President... Read More

Twenty Years Ago

October 25, 2022
Re: Twenty Years AgoTo: All campusOct. 25, 2022 Dear Campus Community, Twenty years ago today, ground was broken for what would eventually become UC Merced: a beacon of exploration and knowledge, shining in the fertile valley. Faculty members and graduate students began to arrive in 2003 and began setting up research laboratories and... Read More

Indigenous Peoples Day

October 10, 2022
Re: Indigenous Peoples Day To: All campus Oct. 10, 2022   Dear Campus Community,   Today, Oct. 10, we mark National Indigenous Peoples Day —recognizing the role of native people in the long history of California, including the land where UC Merced now stands.   In 2021 we dedicated our Toloma Grove... Read More

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Limited Waiver Program

October 7, 2022
Re: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Limited Waiver Program To: Faculty and Staff Oct. 7, 2022   Colleagues,   I write to you today to urge you to take advantage of a temporary program that may save you thousands of dollars in student loan debt. As you may have heard, the Biden Administration expanded the Public Service... Read More

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