Brenda Ortiz

Beginning this year, UC Merced’s fall graduates will have an earlier occasion to celebrate their outstanding accomplishments.

UC Merced is launching a new tradition with its first Fall Commencement. The intimate ceremony, which will be held at 11 a.m. Dec. 16 in the Art Kamangar Center at the historic Merced Theatre downtown, will include all the pomp and circumstance at spring commencement — caps and gowns, full regalia and crossing the stage in front of friends and family.

Members of the UC Merced Police Department visited several campus locations last week to play a new question-and-answer game called “Your Campus, Your Police.”

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 university in the nation, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, UC Merced now enrolls 7,375 undergraduate and 592 graduate students for a total of 7,967 students — an 8.6 percent increase from 7,336 in 2016, as reported in the university’s fall census.

When Chigoziri Ibechem attended her first planning commission meeting in downtown Merced last November, she had no idea where it might lead.

After the meeting, the psychology major from Los Angeles was greeted by the city of Merced’s principal planner, who noticed her enthusiasm for the city’s Local Transportation project. He invited her to apply for an internship program UC Merced’s sustainability office launched earlier this year to give students education and applied learning opportunities in sustainability-related careers.

The third annual UC Merced Journey 5K Fund Run drew a record 475 participants Saturday and raised more than $6,000, exceeding the event’s stated goal. 

Proceeds and donations from this year’s 5K will support cross country athletes through the Ryan Nunez Cross Country Memorial Scholarship, in honor of the UC Merced coach who died last year in a motorcycle accident.

In a life-threatening incident, bystanders have mere moments to act. Thanks to the UC Merced Police Department, American Heart Association and Riggs Ambulance, the general public and campus community have an upcoming opportunity to learn the needed skills to save lives.

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 country teams — in a tragic motorcycle accident.

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 toiletries to laptops and microwaves.

Move-in weekend is always a bustling time on campus as parents, families and friends help their Bobcats get settled in and spend some time on the campus with them before heading home.

Food, fun and prizes drew more than 100 UC Merced students and others to downtown Merced on Aug. 25, for the inaugural CatCrawl.

Degree Attainment for Returning and Transfer Scholars (DARTS), Office of Student Life and Alumni Relations hosted the event to showcase the food and entertainment offered in Merced.  

Karen Merritt came from a family without much money. Like nearly 90 percent of UC Merced’s students, financial aid made her college dreams a reality. However, she quickly learned the costs of higher education don’t end with tuition, room and board.

“There were occasions when I needed special help in buying books or taking an extra course I didn’t realize was necessary,” she recalls.