Kenneth Mashinchi

There’s a striking image of “San Andres” that was recently on display at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center. The illumination of the saint’s torso and visage are iconic.

But this version is different. It’s darker – and newer.

On second glance, it’s not the famed painting created by Jose de Ribera in 1631 at all.

This version of “San Andres” is only a year old, and it’s the handiwork of Richard Gomez, a visual artist in the Global Arts Studies Program.

UC Merced welcomed more than 500 students from across the San Joaquin Valley to campus Wednesday to celebrate College Signing Day.

Every student was a high school senior who will move on to higher education in the fall. Seven colleges and universities were represented, including UC Merced, Fresno State, Stanislaus State and CSU Bakersfield.

The event at UC Merced coincided with a larger College Signing Day event at UCLA — put on by former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher foundation — and Obama gave the keynote address.

UC Merced’s University Friends Circle (UFC) continues to be a generous supporter of the campus, and at this week’s culminating program for the academic year, UFC members will honor student scholarship and organization award recipients.

Conservation and leadership of the country’s national parks and natural resources is ingrained in the UC Merced’s DNA. To reinforce the concentrated efforts surrounding sustainability of the nation’s gems, the university recently hosted its prestigious National Parks Institute Executive Leadership Seminar.

In May 2016, first-year UC Merced student Harrison Tom realized he had more money left on his prepaid meal plan than he could use up before the semester ended.

The balance wouldn’t roll over to the next school year. Reluctant to forfeit the remainder, Tom got creative. He used the money to buy 100 meal vouchers and offered them up to hungry students.

“Why let my money go to waste when I could help feed people who need food?” Tom said.

UC Merced has joined the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine as a founding member of the Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.

Just days after visiting the nation’s capital, Chancellor Dorothy Leland trekked to the state capital to advocate for the campus and the UC system as part of UC Merced Day.

Viet Ta (’10) and Janna Rodriguez (’12) are the newest alumni establishing an endowed scholarship at this year’s annual Alumni Signature Ceremony on Saturday, April 13. Ta and Rodriguez join nine fellow alumni who have established endowed scholarships through pledges of $10,000.

The event will take place during Bobcat Day from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library. Ta and Rodriguez will sign a gift agreement and share their stories of giving with attendees.

The University of California, Merced, today announced the appointment of Dania Matos as Associate Chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Matos is the first appointment to the new position, which will serve on Chancellor Dorothy Leland’s senior leadership team and is charged with advising the team on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and overseeing campus diversity initiatives. Her appointment, which begins in July,  follows a nationwide search that included input from throughout the campus community.

Two of the state’s leading political figures will make their return to UC Merced to serve as keynote speakers at the university’s 14^th commencement exercises in May.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California’s First Partner, and Eleni Kounalakis, the state’s first female Lieutenant Governor, will address more than 1,300 graduates and their families over two ceremonies May 18-19. The Class of 2019 will be the largest in UC Merced’s history.