Jody Murray

A smiling throng of new faces took part Tuesday in one of UC Merced’s oldest traditions, the Scholars Bridge Crossing.

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and other campus leaders led the march over the bridge. Blue and gold balloons arced over the span, which was lined with cheering staff, faculty and current students. “Let’s go, Bobcats!” they chanted.

The procession then passed through the Beginnings sculpture, signifying the start of the students’ academic journeys at UC Merced. During commencement ceremonies, graduates go through Beginnings again, in the other direction.

The growing energy across campus is palpable as UC Merced prepares for its 21st academic year. Fall semester instruction begins Wednesday, Aug. 26, furthering the mission of one of the nation’s top public research universities to provide knowledge and opportunity to a vibrant and diverse student body.

Orientation sessions and move-in days for on-campus student residents began the week of Aug. 17, leading a slate of welcome-to-campus activities.

Digging for stories in a Gold Rush town that vanished in flames 170 years ago. Pinging brainwaves for reactions from sentences that slide between Spanish and English. Fortifying students’ skills and confidence with a practice called powerwriting.

These ventures are among nearly a dozen UC Merced research projects made possible by the Chancellor’s Catalyst Awards, an initiative designed to spur compelling inquiry in the humanities and social sciences.

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.

Peyton Smith brings a love of water sports, an interest in medicine and a goal to work as a pediatrician to UC Merced. The Fresno student brings a deep resume of public service in high school to her Bobcat career.

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.

Tayven Tipler won’t travel far from his hometown when he starts at UC Merced and he is already well along on his higher education journey. Tipler completed several courses at Merced College as a high school student.

Where I come from: I live in Atwater, where I was born and raised. I graduated this spring from Buhach Colony High School. 

UC Merced has established its identity as a world-class research university that welcomes learners who historically have been left out of higher education. Nearly three-quarters of its undergraduates are first-generation college students.

This distinction put the university in welcome company when it co-hosted one of a handful of institutes held nationwide that trained instructors on how to teach reading and writing effectively at access-oriented institutions: community colleges and open-enrollment universities that educate underserved students.

Editor's note: This story is republished from the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of UC Merced Magazine.

Temnee Wright, ’08 has realized a successful career as legal counsel at several Silicon Valley companies. Her interest in law was forged at UC Merced, where she made the most out of being a student in the university’s first undergraduate class.

A new UC Merced major arrived just in time for Tyrese Francis.

When the student starts his third year at the university this fall, he will dive into coursework for a degree in business administration, one of two degrees debuting in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

“I’ve always wanted to be a leader,” said Francis, who hails from the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. “I feel this major will give me the skills I could apply to a leadership role.”

On a spring day in Merced’s Applegate Park, the man sat in front of a camera, spinning memories. He described decades of Latin music and dance pulsing in the city, moments drawn from eight decades of life and stories told by aunts and uncles.

His two interviewers took notes and checked the microphone’s levels. All good.

Then came a sound that smothered his voice — the blast of a horn and clatter of rolling steel as a train passed, only two blocks away. They waited. When it was quiet again, the man, David Soria, smiled.

A documentary by a UC Merced professor that enters the bleak world of a fading, elderly man in a Virginia state prison received one of the top honors at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Media and performance studies Professor Yehuda Sharim directed “Where’s My Coffee Cup?” – directed by media and performance studies Professor Yehuda Sharim – earned a Copper Wing Award for Best Experimental Short Film.