Brenda Ortiz

Founding UC Merced Staffer Wraps Up 45 Years in Law Enforcement

August 28, 2025

A collage of photos depicting Tamela Adkins and other staff during the past 20 years.

On Aug. 12, 2005, less than one month before UC Merced opened its doors to undergraduate students, Tamela Adkins joined the campus’s Police Department as support services manager. Intially, her role included managing records and evidence, overseeing the police dispatch center and hiring....

Health Center Offers Convenient Care, Support for Students

College is an adjustment. Over the span of a summer, high school seniors go from living under the watchful eye of parents to being full-fledged adults. Students have to manage their own money, time,...

Local Entrepreneur Gives $2 Million to Support UC Merced Students

The Bright Family Foundation has donated $2 million to the University of California, Merced, to provide advising and learning support services to students during their first year and beyond....

Student Bridges Generation Gap, Finds Acceptance and Fulfillment

David Brantley isn’t a typical UC Merced student. He’s older by a few decades. He’s already built a career as a professional photographer. And he’s the patriarch of three generations of Brantleys on ...

UC Merced's Impact Growing Rapidly as New Academic Year Begins

With student enrollment expected to top the 5,000 mark this fall, faculty research projects winning major new grants and making national headlines, and intercollegiate athletics about to begin, the...

Tulare County Valedictorians Continue Friendship, Academic Dreams

Stephanie Ruiz and Marisela Torres have been friends since seventh grade, and they share dreams that include college degrees and teaching careers. So it’s no surprise that these Tulare County...

Police Mentor Program Steers Youngsters Toward College

Uriel Bravo is about to become a freshman at Merced High School, but he's already thinking about college — thanks partly to the encouragement of a UC Merced program. “I really want to go to college...

Six UC Merced Students Headed to Harvard for Leadership Program

For the second year, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government has selected six University of California, Merced undergraduate students to attend the Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI...

History Student Fulfills Speaking Promise at Commencement

Dulcemaria Anaya once vowed to represent her UC Merced class as the student speaker at commencement. Anaya, a world history major from Merced, was an incoming freshman when she made the...

Seminar Helps Park Leaders Plan for Future

When it comes to management and preservation of public lands, park leaders have a simple choice: Be proactive or reactive. And that decision isn't easy. Park leaders are faced with issues like...