Campus Community

Open Arms, Open Skies: Students Welcomed at Spirited, Soggy Scholars Bridge Crossing

August 26, 2025

Spirits were high and futures bright while all else was soaked in a summer storm that made Tuesday morning’s Scholars Bridge Crossing, UC Merced’s traditional greeting to new students, a welcome unlike any before. Call them Thunder ‘Cats. The ceremony embraced about 2,000...

New Program Will Guide Bobcats Through First-Year Transition

With a new academic year underway, first-year students are transitioning to university life. In an effort to help these students integrate into the environment — while cultivating meaningful...

New Batch of Bobcats Celebrate Welcome Week

UC Merced welcomed the largest incoming class to campus over the past week, as more than 2,000 first-year and transfer students took part in Welcome Week festivities. Throughout the weekend,...

Outgoing Chancellor Dorothy Leland cut the ribbon to signify the opening of the second phase of the Merced 2020 Project.

UC Merced Unveils Second Phase of Merced 2020 Project, Says Thank You to Leland

Two simple words, “Leland Legacy,” captured the significance of Wednesday’s opening event for the second phase of the Merced 2020 Project, an event that doubled as a goodbye and...

Media Creates False Balance on Climate Science, Study Shows

The American media lends too much weight to people who dismiss climate change, giving them legitimacy they haven’t earned, posing serious danger to efforts aimed at raising public awareness and...

A grant from the Henry Luce Foundation is already making an impact on the Merced area through humanities community-engaged scholarship.

Humanities Grad Students Drive Community Engagement, Public Understanding Through Research

Since his undergraduate days in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University, Ivan Soto has aspired to produce research with a positive impact on the public — not just to benefit the...

Founding Professor Named Associate Dean of Natural Sciences

The School of Natural Sciences has a new associate dean for Academic Programs, founding faculty member Professor Michael Colvin. “With his experience as a researcher and administrator,...

A view of Half Dome from the Merced River in Yosemite National Park

New Program Offers Veterans a Way to Realign with Civilian Life

One of the pillars of UC Merced is service and giving back to the community. Now the university, Yosemite National Park and partners in the region are offering a new program to help a group of...

Zanzucchi Appointed Associate Dean for Student Services and Academics

Anne Zanzucchi has worn many different hats in her 14 years at UC Merced and now she is preparing to enter her newest role as associate dean for Student Services and Academics for the School of...

Biochemistry Researcher Named to NIH Review Board

Professor Andy LiWang has accepted an appointment to the National Institutes of Health’s Macromolecular Structure and Function B (MSFB) Study Section Center for Scientific Review. Over his...