Commencement

May 17, 2026

Blue and gold streamers fly over the heads of graduates at UC Merced's Graduate Division commencement ceremony.
Smiling even as she cried, Nancy Rodas De Leon stood in UC Merced's University Plaza, accepting hugs, flowers, stuffed animals and cards from extended family. "These are happy tears," said Rodas De Leon, who previously earned both her undergraduate and master's degrees...
Jessica Anderson will give the commencement address on Sunday, Dec. 15.
When Jessica Anderson first visited UC Merced as a high school senior, there wasn’t a campus to see. “They couldn’t bring us to campus because it was under construction,”...
The Class of 2009 were pioneers of the Bobcat spirit, overcoming obstacles and defying the odds. Ten years later, we look back at UC Merced’s formative beginnings from the perspectives of those...
Jason Castillo ('09), now a dermatologist and surgeon in Southern California, gives the alumni speech to the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering at the spring 2019 commencement.
A decade has passed since Sam Fong (’09) crossed the stage to get his diploma and walked through Beginnings for the first time as part of UC Merced’s inaugural graduating class, and a lot...
Clouds loomed over the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Quad last weekend, but nothing was going to rain on the parade of the more than 1,300 Bobcats who walked the stage at UC Merced’s commencement....
Chancellor Dorothy Leland delivered the keynote address at UC Merced's commencement ceremonies May 18 and 19.
It was not my intention to be your commencement speaker this morning, and you were no doubt looking forward to having California’s First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom share her wisdom with you...
Commencement student speakers Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna
Undergraduates Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna entered UC Merced through different doors. Arias was a freshman impressed with the campus and community. Caradonna was a transfer student and...
Araceli Perez
Graduating senior Araceli Perez was looking for a new environment when she moved from Hacienda Heights to attend UC Merced in 2015. The shift from the high-intensity region of Los Angeles to the...
It’s before dawn on a Saturday morning in mid-May — not a time anyone would expect the UC Merced campus to be busy. But it is. This is Spring Commencement, and there is much work to do...
More than 140 UC Merced students walked the stage during Fall Commencement.
More than 140 students became proud UC Merced alumni Saturday, Dec. 15, at Fall Commencement at the Art Kamangar Center in the Merced Theatre. Students receiving their bachelor’s, master’...

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