Brenda Ortiz

Commuter Student Finds Belonging at UC Merced

March 31, 2026

Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced. “The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the...

Alumnus Expands Science Literacy Nonprofit to South America

A science literacy nonprofit created by UC Merced students is gaining an international foothold with planned expansion into classrooms in Ecuador. Growth is nothing new for BEAT — short for Biology,...

Campus Police Officers Hit the Road for Special Olympics

The Merced County portion of the 2016 Law Enforcement Torch Run made its way to the UC Merced campus yesterday. This is the fifth year that UC Merced police officers and staff members have run in the...

Campus Ranks Among Best for Scholarships

The GoodCall 2016 Best Schools for Scholarships Report has ranked UC Merced No. 8 out of 4,000 U.S. public colleges and universities for earning scholarships. The report examined the amount of...

Collaboration Aims to Increase Fresno Students’ Success

Building on an existing seven-year partnership with UC Merced, the Fresno Unified School District is spearheading an innovative collaboration to increase the number of its students who complete their...

Souza Leadership Center Recognizes Program Graduates

Eleven UC Merced students were honored during a recent dinner for completing the Margo F. Souza Leadership Center certification program. “The inaugural graduation dinner was four years in the making...

UC Merced to Honor 11th Graduating Class at Commencement

This weekend, more than 900 degree candidates are expected to take part in the 11th commencement ceremonies at University of California, Merced, and commemorate the hard work that led to their...

Undocumented Student Makes History With Ph.D.

A doctoral degree is the culmination of years of study and hard work — a mark of determination, willpower and excellence in research and scholarship. For Quantitative and Systems Biology graduate...

Student Laura Showalter is Commited to Excellence

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the spring 2016 issue of UC Merced Magazine. Laura Showalter will represent the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering as student speaker at this...

Awards Ceremony Honors Campus Leaders

Each spring, the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center recognizes and celebrates students, staff and faculty members, and student organizations demonstrating outstanding leadership to the campus...