Campus Community

Giving Tuesday at UC Merced: Collective Generosity Transforms Lives

December 1, 2025

Every gift during the Give to UC Merced 2025 campaign supports students on their educational journeys.

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 year, the campus joins the global Giving Tuesday movement, inviting donors to power change through...

Student, Faculty Music Projects Enlivening Area Scene

Professor Arnold Kim’s music couldn’t be more different than that of student-staff-alumni band Feeling Gravity’s Pull. Kim’s The Yellow Hope Project work is heavily influenced by what he has been...

Common Read Builds Community, Connections with Shared Book

A richly illustrated book tracing centuries of change in the California landscape is this year’s Common Read, a program that connects students and faculty across disciplines by putting the same text...

Yosemite Leadership Program Coordinator to Expand Its Profile

The UC Merced Yosemite Leadership Program’s first full-time leader plans to build on the program’s momentum and expand its visibility. Jacob Croasdale was recently selected to oversee the 3-year-old...

Staff Members’ Invention Helping Reduce Campus Waste

UC Merced’s library used to be one of the trashiest places on campus – patrons generated a lot more garbage than recycling. But all that garbage led to an invention by two campus staff members that...

Students Share Personal Stories in Program to Keep Kids in School

UC Merced senior Patricia Paredes didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood or have the easiest childhood. But she overcame those hardships to graduate from a San Jose high school and enroll at the...

Campus Diners Pioneering Zero-Waste Take-Out System

Campus diners who take out their meals are helping save the environment one container at a time. UC Merced is the first campus west of the Mississippi to use the new OZZI container-recycling system,...

Academic Year Begins with Sharper Focus on Emerging Fields of Excellence, Graduate Programs and Flexible Growth

The University of California, Merced, begins its eighth academic year today with record enrollment of approximately 5,600 students, a 23 percent increase in graduate-student enrollment and 26 newly...

Campus Brings Urban Dance Troupe to Merced Theatre

UC Merced will bring the acclaimed Lula Washington Dance Theater to Merced on Sept. 29. Renowned for its mix of jazz, ballet and urban street styles, the troupe will perform at the recently-restored...

Events Help New Students Make Transition to Campus Life

This week, UC Merced welcomes more than 1,400 new first-year, transfer and graduate students to campus. Special programs are happening campuswide to provide information and ensure new students have a...