School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

March 19, 2026

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities. While in third grade, Grinder lost her grandmother to what she described as too few physicians nearby to...

Faculty member and NCPC community research lead, Nancy Burke, listens to a presentation at the NCPC's workshop titled “Hook, Line & Sinker: Crafting Compelling Policy Messages.”

NCPC Workshop Empowers Stakeholders to Craft Compelling Anti-Smoking Policy Messages

The rate of smoking in the San Joaquin Valley is the highest in California — on par with tobacco-producing regions in Georgia and South Carolina — and UC Merced’s Nicotine and...

UC Merced Undergrad Alumna Wins Fulbright, Will Study Health Disparities Among Indian Women

Akhila Yechuri is taking what she learned as an undergrad at UC Merced to Hyderabad, India, researching health disparities as the campus’s first undergrad to earn a Fulbright...

Seven ‘Outstanding Students’ Receive Medals

Hundreds of accomplished students walked in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) commencement earlier this month, proudly wearing their cap, gown and stole. Among them were a...

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.

Older and Wiser: 2009 Graduates Reflect on Instrumental UC Merced Education

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...

Largest Graduating Class in Campus History Celebrated At Commencement

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....

Commencement student speakers Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna

Class of 2019 Student Speakers Leave UC Merced with Messages of Gratitude

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...

Soon-to-be Graduate Taps into Diverse Opportunities for Growth at UC Merced

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...

Picture This: Migrant Farmworkers’ Daughter Turns UC Merced Grad

When Anna Ocegueda walks across the stage at UC Merced’s 2019 commencement, it will be not only a powerful moment for her, but for her family, too — and for the thousands of people who...

GAMWS Spring Showcase to Exhibit Student Art

Where do Shakespeare and swing dancing collide? At UC Merced’s Global Arts, Media & Writing Studies (GAMWS) Spring Showcase. For the second time this academic year, students, faculty and...