Campus Life

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...

Students are a major part of UC Merced's success in sustainability.

Princeton Review Lists UC Merced Among Top Green Colleges

UC Merced is among the nation’s top schools for sustainability for the third straight year, according to the Princeton Review’s Guide to 375 Green Colleges, and achieved its highest score...

Record-Breaking Class Pushes UC Merced Enrollment Near 8,000

The University of California, Merced, received the largest incoming class of students in its 13-year history this semester, as total enrollment neared 8,000 for the first time. The fastest-growing...

A man holds a bright purple instrument in his hands while talking into a microphone headset.

‘Genius’ Award Winner and TED Lecturer to Speak at UC Merced

On Sept. 22, MacArthur "Genius" Award winner and Stanford University bioengineering Professor Manu Prakash will deliver the keynote lecture at the first annual open house for UC Merced...

Rufus is the real-life iteration of the UC Merced bobcat.

What’s In a Name? The Strength of Bobcats

Five years before it opened, UC Merced held a mascot-naming contest for local elementary school students. Among the nominees: the Marmots, the Hawks and the Black-Tailed Hares “There was an...

Aerial photo from the early days of the UC Merced campus.

Postcards, Persistence Paid Off for Merced

Yazil Navarro might have played a bigger role in the founding of UC Merced than she realizes. As a Merced County second-grader, Navarro — now the learning and professional development manager...

Professor Roland Winston and his student researchers

Our First Campus Was a Castle

The University of California, Merced, was established in 2005 — or so the story goes. The main campus officially opened in September of that year, but that particular reading of history elides...

The UC Merced Journey 5K Fund Run is Sept. 9.

Journey 5K Fund Run Honors Late Cross Country Coach

Saturday’s annual Journey 5K Fund Run has special meaning for the UC Merced community. Last November, the campus lost Ryan Nunez — head coach of the men’s and women’s cross...

New Academic Year Brings New Faces, Opportunities

More than 2,200 students — many entering their first year at UC Merced — arrived last weekend in cars, trucks and minivans packed to the gills with living essentials from clothing and...

Campus Named a Top-50 ‘Cool School’ for Sustainability

UC Merced checks in at No. 50 in the Sierra Club’s 2017 "Cool Schools" list, rising more than 30 spots from its previous position in the ranking of sustainable colleges and...

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