Women's History Month

Commuter Student Finds Belonging at UC Merced

March 31, 2026

Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced. “The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the...

Interdisciplinary Humanities Ph.D. graduate Nicolette Lecy and her 4-year-old son, Alejandro

Humanities Alum Advocates for Student Parents

When Nicolette Lecy began her graduate studies at UC Merced, life was anything but typical. It was August 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lecy’s classes were held remotely, and...

image with two people with brown/black hair and the Beginnings sculture

Two Social Science Graduate Students Earn Fellowships

UC Merced Ph.D. candidates Eliana Fonsah and Nihan Karagul are recipients of the highly competitive dissertation fellowship from the UC Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). They...

Wilson Among This Year’s AAAS Fellows, Recognized for Science and Outreach

Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development Gillian Wilson has been named a 2024 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’...

Pew Celebrates 40 Years of Support for Innovative Biomedical Research

Note: This article has been republished in part.The full article is available online . When David Mendoza-Cózatl, a 2006 Pew Latin American fellow in the biomedical sciences, got an email...

Maddison Crump and two other UC Merced students

Bright Center Student Lightens Lives with Determination, Empathy

Sometimes you meet a young person who makes such a powerful impression that you want to vault forward a few decades to see how much they lifted others and elevated our world. Maddison Crump is one...

Central Valley Stories event attendees and one painting

Central Valley Stories Seminar Connects Students to Community

Among the UC Merced students’ impressive creations in the dimly lighted room — dioramas, poems, photo collages, paintings in bold colors — Derek Miller’s creation attracted...

At UC Merced, Shannon Lee Talks About Expanding Legacy of Her Martial Arts Hero Father

Shannon Lee – whose extensive resume includes roles as author, producer and legacy-keeper of her father, martial arts icon Bruce Lee -- visited UC Merced on March 6 as a special guest speaker....

Linda Chang is pictured at a Lions Club leadership forum.

Merced Native Makes Her Mark at the University and in the Community

Family is everything to Linda Chang. Chang, a 30-year-old administrative officer with the UC Merced Police Department, was a quiet high school freshman when she joined the Leo Club, the youth...

5 Questions for Indigenous Author of Acclaimed Memoir Coming to UC Merced

Deborah Taffa, an Indigenous author and educator whose book about growing up in a mixed-race home and struggling with social acceptance was hailed as one the best memoirs of 2024, will make a...