Diversity & Inclusion

Hundreds Gather at UC Merced to Explore Graduate School Pathways

October 30, 2025

Photo depicts a crowd of students in front of a UCM letter installation on the UC Merced campus.

UC Merced buzzed with energy as nearly 800 students and 200 recruiters, staff and volunteers from across California converged on campus on Oct. 18 for the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education - a dynamic event dedicated to inspiration, inclusion and academic ambition....

News and Notes: Campus Hosts Writing Conference, Citizen Police Academy; Blood Drive

Equity, diversity and inclusion is the theme of the eighth annual UC Writing Program Conference at UC Merced on Nov. 2 and 3. English Professor Juan Guerra, chair of the University of Washington...

Donna Riley, the Kamyar Haghighi Head of Purdue University’s School of Engineering Education

Lecture Will Examine How to Increase Equity, Inclusion in STEM

Despite efforts to increase diversity among science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, inclusion continues to be a struggle, said Donna Riley, professor of engineering education at...

Two students in white lab coats work in a chemistry lab.

$1.5M Grant Will Transform Chemistry Curriculum, Improve Access to STEM Careers

It’s a startling statistic: Nearly 30 percent of UC Merced students who start their college careers in the School of Natural Sciences (SNS) switch to majors outside the science, technology,...

Guatemalan Nobelist Announced as This Year’s Spendlove Prize Recipient

Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum, recognized for her work in social and ethno-cultural reform, has been selected to receive the 2018 Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice...

Graduating students listen to a speaker during commencement.

Graduation Events Honor UC Merced's Rich Diversity

Commencement is one of the biggest events – if not the biggest – in a student’s academic career. It’s a time-honored tradition that recognizes students’ scholarly...

Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky speaking with students.

Berkeley Law Dean Speaks Up for Free Speech

People on college campuses hold a wide range of views, and the First Amendment gives everyone the right to express their opinions. But restricting speech at a public institution — even when...

Berkeley Law Dean to Visit Campus for Talk on Free Speech

When does freedom of speech cross the line and become hate speech? What’s considered protected speech? And, how do universities strike the delicate balance between allowing individuals or...

U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham meets with graduate student Boe Mendewala and Chancellor Dorothy Leland.

Chancellor Leland Visits D.C. to Urge Congress to Protect Dreamers

UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland united with members of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in Washington, D.C., earlier this week to call on Congress to pass a...

U.S. flag flies in front of UC Merced students

Statement From Chancellor Leland on DACA

The decision to end DACA is a cruel bait-and-switch for the many young adults who are living, learning, and working here under its protections. Congress must now step up and pass legislation that...

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