Campus Community

Open Arms, Open Skies: Students Welcomed at Spirited, Soggy Scholars Bridge Crossing

August 26, 2025

Spirits were high and futures bright while all else was soaked in a summer storm that made Tuesday morning’s Scholars Bridge Crossing, UC Merced’s traditional greeting to new students, a welcome unlike any before. Call them Thunder ‘Cats. The ceremony embraced about 2,000...

It’s a ‘Welcome’ Party at UC Merced Scholars Bridge Crossing

UC Merced said “welcome” to its 2,400 new students Tuesday as only UC Merced can, with a joyous and colorful Scholars Bridge Crossing ceremony that symbolizes their transformation into...

Ph.D. candidate Arabi Seshappan will spend 10 months at a satellite campus of the Université Paris-Saclay in France after being selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Fulbright Award Sends Physics Grad Student to France for Quantum Research

Persistence has paid off for UC Merced doctoral candidate Arabi Seshappan. The graduate student from Fremont, about to start her sixth year, was selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program...

New Dean of SSHA Arriving with the Fall Semester

Professor Leonardo R. Arriola from UC Berkeley has been named dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) as of Aug. 1. Vice Chancellor and Provost Betsy Dumont made the...

UC Merced VC of Student Affairs Charles Nies with students

Lighting the Path: Thank You and Farewell to Charles Nies

It’s spring break 2009 and Jane Lawrence is rushing across campus, the words from the phone call still ringing in her ear. The unimaginable is happening and she must tell Charles Nies...

A student is congratulated by Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz on the commencement stage.

More Than 1,300 Bobcats Will Cross the Stage During UC Merced Commencement Weekend

More than 1,300 students plan to participate in UC Merced's Spring 2024 Commencement, celebrated with three distinct ceremonies on the campus's Recreation Field. The first ceremony...

USDA UC Merced FARMERS fellows mentor El Capitan High School students pose for a group photo during recent event

USDA UC Merced FARMERS Program Teams Up with Local FFA

In an exciting initiative to foster community collaboration and academic mentorship, the USDA UC Merced's FARMERS Facilitating Agriculture-Related Mentoring for Emerging Research Scholars...

My UC Merced Journey, Class of 2024

As senior Bobcats prepare to walk the stage this weekend, we asked them to reflect on their own personal journeys at UC Merced. In response, we received stories of growth, self-exploration ...

author Jorge Cham speaks to a group of graduate students during a visit to UC Merced.

Author Jorge Cham Simplifies Science in an Entertaining Way

“Raise your hands if you want to know a secret,” acclaimed author and cartoonist Jorge Cham instructed a crowd of young children. Hundreds of tiny arms shot up in unison toward the...

Ph.D. candidate Ambarish Varadan will compete in the UC Grad Slam finale livestreamed starting at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 3.

Campus Grad Slam Winner Examines ‘Gut Viruses: Friends or Foes?’

Earlier this month, Ambarish Varadan competed in UC Merced’s Grad Slam finals and seized the title of Campus Champion. This was the second time the Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) Ph....