Diversity

New Alumni-Funded Endowment to Champion LGBTQ+ Initiatives at UC Merced

July 29, 2025

A group of dedicated UC Merced alumni have come together to launch an endowed fund focused on supporting LGBTQ+ student initiatives, programs and priorities. Spearheaded by University of California Regent Emeritus Keith Ellis ’12, the LGBTQ+ Lambda Student Engagement Endowment was created...

Merced County Public Health Officer Dr. Salvador Sandoval administers a COVID-19 vaccine.

Report Addresses Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination in California

As news headlines continue to focus on seeing the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe. As of May 18, California has recorded more than 3.6...

Among the six scholarship recipients was second-year bioengineering major Gehad Elhanafy who received the highest scholarship, $3,500.

University Friends Circle Recognizes Six Students and Two Service Organizations with Awards

Since 2008, University Friends Circle (UFC) has shown its support to UC Merced students through programs that promote community interaction. One way UFC has been a critical advocate of the campus...

UC Merced Professors on TV to Inspire Girls to Consider STEM Careers

UC Merced takes pride in encouraging the younger generation to learn more about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers by counting on some of the top educators in the fields...

Zoom event presenters (top row) Patti Kishi, Jess Évora and Charles Nies, (center row) Hayley Montoya, Cassie Gunter and Brandon Lopez, (bottom row) Andrea Guerra

Leadership Awards Honor Students, Organizations

For the second year, the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) held the 2021 UC Merced Leadership Awards virtually. The April 30 event provided an...

$2.2M NIH Grant Designed to Produce Highly Trained, Diverse Ph.D. Workforce

A five-year, $2.2 million training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will assist UC Merced with the development of diverse cohorts of doctoral students in interdisciplinary...

Alicia Garza speaks during a virtual event to honor her with the Spendlove Prize.

Alicia Garza, Civil Rights Activist and BLM Co-Founder, Honored with Spendlove Prize

While this year's ceremony looked quite different from years past due to the coronavirus pandemic, the presentation of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and...

Alicia Garza is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network.

Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza is 13th Recipient of Spendlove Prize

Alicia Garza, civil rights activist and co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, will be honored as the 13th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in...

Anti-Semitism 'Doesn't Fit in a Box,' Experts Say at UC Merced Workshop

The scourge of anti-Semitism was in Charlottesville, where white nationalists chanted “Jews will not replace us.” It is felt when Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is compared to...

Two make graduate students sitting in residence hall

Graduate Student Association Provides Collective Voice for Grad Students

Graduate school is tough, but graduate students have a place to turn to for advocacy and support on campus. Since it was established in 2005, UC Merced’s Graduate Student Association (GSA)...