Hispanic/LatinX Heritage Month

New Dining Space Mural Honors Native Heritage, Student Perseverance

June 6, 2025

Hidden for a year behind two large barn-style doors, a powerful new mural now adorns the walls of the Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center. The latest piece of public art on the UC Merced campus explores Native past and future with themes of identity and representation. Funded through a grant from...

Physiological Society Recognizes Rudy Ortiz for Mentoring Underrepresented Students

Physiology Professor Rudy M. Ortiz has been named this year's winner of the A. Clifford Barger Underrepresented Minority Mentorship Award by the American Physiological Society. The UC Merced...

photo of student with brown hair and yellow shirt on blue and gold backgroud

Fellowship Draws UC Merced Alum Back to the Capitol

As one of UC Merced’s first students, Josue “Josh” Franco seized the chance to help shape student government for future scholars on campus; now he has grasped a new opportunity on...

Public Health Grad Student Selected for Prestigious Award

Second-year public health Ph.D. student Sarina Rodriguez was named as a Health Policy Research Scholar by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The HPRS program supports doctoral students from...

UC Merced Receives Second Consecutive HEED Award For DEI Efforts

UC Merced has received the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, making it the second straight year the university has earned the distinction. The award, given by Insight Into...

Star Soccer Player Finds Success On and Off the Pitch

Four years ago, lifelong soccer player Yesenia Tijerina stopped playing when the pandemic shut everything down. Her classes at UC Davis were taken online at her home in Salinas. Tijerina started...

Chef Maria’s Pozole Brings Comfort to Campus

Every Thursday, Chef Maria Maravilla arrives on campus at 5 a.m. In the kitchen, she carefully grinds spices and chops vegetables, both for her special creation and to top it off. She boils 300...

UC Merced Earns Seal of Excelencia Recertification For Advancing Latino Student Success

In recognition for its continuing efforts to advance Latino student success, UC Merced has earned recertification of the prestigious Seal of Excelencia. The Seal is a national certification for...

Ph.D. Student Named as 2024 Dole Caregiver Fellow

Karla Seijas is one of 14 individuals selected from across the nation as an Elizabeth Dole Foundation Caregiver Fellow. The Elizabeth Dole Foundation supports a community of more than 5.5 million...

New SSHA Dean Thanks Helping Hands Along a Remarkable Journey

He studied in hallowed halls of academia. His highly respected research takes him halfway around the globe into societies both foreign and familiar. In his newest role, he leads the largest school of...