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Brenda Ortiz

July 24, 2025

Interdisciplinary Humanities Ph.D. graduate Nicolette Lecy and her 4-year-old son, Alejandro
When Nicolette Lecy began her graduate studies at UC Merced, life was anything but typical. It was August 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lecy’s classes were held remotely, and she had limited access to campus. Another challenge that could have hindered Lecy’s...
Two UC Merced graduate students wearing blue
Two UC Merced graduate students and an alum from the School of Natural Sciences were recently awarded fellowships from the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship...
Top nine Grad Slam finalists with graduate dean and associate graduate dean with R1 prop
Adekunle “Kunle” Adewole isn’t a stranger to the spotlight, having grown up singing at family functions and performing in theater productions. He also has fervently watched “...
Group of five female graduates at commencement
UC Merced has earned two 2025 Carnegie distinctions, the Student Access and Earnings Classification “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” and the Institutional Classification by the...
UC Merced Sociology graduate student Luis Rubén González Márquez has a new first-authored article titled “The Glocal Foundations of Threat-Driven Labor Resistance to Authoritarian Capitalism,...
two males with a drone
UC Merced’s School of Engineering and its programs continue to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report as demonstrated in the release today of its 2025 Best Graduate Schools rankings....
Two female standing in front of a poster
This story is part of a series for Black History Month. Read more stories highlighting Black excellence at UC Merced. The brutal deaths of African Americans George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others...
Give to UC Merced, the university’s annual year-end fundraising campaign, was the most successful of its 11-year history, garnering nearly $1.43 million from 647 donors. The tremendous show of...
Three males standing
First-generation doctoral student Josiah Beharry made history in 2023 when he was chosen as the first student regent from UC Merced. In addition to being the 50th student to serve on the Board...
photo of student with brown hair and yellow shirt on blue and gold backgroud
As one of UC Merced’s first students, Josue “Josh” Franco seized the chance to help shape student government for future scholars on campus; now he has grasped a new opportunity on...

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