Students

Student Finds Community and Purpose Through Culture and Literature

March 12, 2026

Student stands outdoors on the UC Merced campus holding a notebook and pen, looking off into the distance near a campus walkway lined with leafless trees.

Between classes at UC Merced, you will often find Padme James under the trees outside the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library. What she studies there isn’t directly correlated to her classwork, but it connects her roots to where she hopes her future is headed. Instead of reviewing notes for a...

Six UC Merced students pose in front of a University of California, Merced backdrop, smiling and holding blue-and-gold pennants that read “UC Merced Alumni” and “UC Merced.”

Student Philanthropy Month Returns to UC Merced with Focus on Service and Giving

Student Philanthropy Month, now in its fifth consecutive year, gives students opportunities throughout March to better understand philanthropy and its impact on the university, the community and...

Recent female UC Merced graduates wave to the camera

UC Merced Recognized on Newsweek’s Inaugural ‘America’s Best Colleges for Women’ List

UC Merced has been recognized on Newsweek’s inaugural America’s Best Colleges for Women 2026 list, a national ranking designed to spotlight institutions that support, advance and elevate...

collage of photo with yellow text on a blue background reading Carnegie Elective Reclassification for Community Engagement

The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation Recognize UC Merced's Leadership in Community Engagement

UC Merced has once again been recognized as a national leader in community-engaged scholarship. The 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement affirms the university’s...

Trinidad Quiroz Signs Professional Contract with Necaxa Femenil

UC Merced women's soccer star Trinidad Quiroz has signed with Necaxa Femenil of Liga BBVA MX Femenil. Quiroz is the first Bobcat to sign a contract with the highest level of women's...

Kevin Arrieta is pictured speaking to an electrical engineering class at UC Merced.

UC Merced Alum, Now a Robotics Expert for Amazon, Advises Students to Get Their Hands Dirty

Kevin Arrieta got into robotics to avoid getting into trouble. Arrieta said he joined the robotics club at Dominguez High School in Compton high school after Gloria Esiobu, the teacher who ran it...

Line of UC Merced graduates in cap and gown

Hundreds of UC Merced Graduates to Cross the Stage at Fall Commencement

Hundreds of UC Merced students will be celebrated this weekend at the university’s fall commencement ceremonies in downtown Merced. Nearly 400 undergraduate students and 40 Graduate Division...

Graduate Students Highlight Research and Campus Life to Encourage Transfers

Three Ph.D. students recently visited Madera Community College to share research findings and highlight opportunities available to transfer students at UC Merced. Emily Rivera Mondragon, a...

Conference of California Sociologists Engages UC Merced Undergrads

More than a dozen undergraduate students in UC Merced’s Sociology Club were immersed in the discipline’s breadth of research and professional possibilities during the California...

Two UC Merced students smiling at the camera

Giving Tuesday at UC Merced: Collective Generosity Transforms Lives

When UC Merced launches Give to UC Merced 2025 on Dec. 2, it won’t just be about one day of giving; the month-long campaign will be about hope, opportunity and community impact. For the 12th...