News

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 first-year and transfer...

Cal-Bridge Scholar Rolando Ortega Wants to Build the Future

August 22, 2025

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester. Rolando Ortega is closing in on his dream of earning a Ph.D. This fall, the Cal-Bridge scholar from Los Angeles County joins UC Merced to start his doctoral journey. With experience spanning national...

UC Merced Marks 20th Year with New Academic Programs, First DII Season and Celebration

August 21, 2025

The new academic year is a momentous milestone for UC Merced — two decades of growth, innovation and achievement. In 2005, the first undergraduate students were welcomed on the new campus. Now, 20 years later, thousands more new students will begin their own journeys that will shape their futures...

Summer Programs Give Students a Jump Start on Academic Year

August 19, 2025

For more than 1,300 Central Valley students, this summer break wasn’t all about fun — it included strengthening their math and science skills to prepare them for the new school year and beyond. UC Merced’s Center for Educational Partnerships offered a wealth of summer programming led by its three...

Buhach Valedictorian Pursues Environmental Engineering at UC Merced this Fall

August 12, 2025

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester. Drake Ledford was an exemplary high school student, earning a 4.29 GPA. The Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) recognized him as one of its top scholars. He was also honored as valedictorian...

¿Las mujeres políticas reducen la violencia contra las mujeres?

August 8, 2025

In this public facing piece in the Mexican magazine Nexos, UC Merced Assistant Professor Marco Alcocer and coauthor Angie Torres-Beltran discuss their recent publication analyzing whether women mayors in Mexico reduce violence against women. Read the article HERE. En este...

Depressed By Politics? You’re Not Alone.

July 23, 2025

UC Merced Professor Christopher Ojeda discussed his new book, The Sad Citizen: How Politics Is Depressing And Why It Matters, on KVPR's Central Valley Daily podcast. Depressed By Politics? You’re Not Alone. Politics have grown increasingly divisive in recent...

Borderline Democracy? The Electoral Consequences of the 2021 State of Emergency on the Poland-Belarus Border

July 22, 2025

Congratulations to UC Merced Political Science Assistant Professor Anil Menon and coauthor Pawel Charasz on their new innovative registered report "Borderline Democracy? The Electoral Consequences of the 2021 State of Emergency on the Poland-Belarus Border" in The Journal...

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

July 17, 2025

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned about crocodiles – their evolution, strength, physiology and...

Dr. Anil Menon Receives the 2025 Distinguished Early Career Research Award

July 11, 2025

Congratulations to Political Science Assistant Professor Anil Menon on receiving the 2025 UC Merced Senate Award for Distinguished Early Career Research! This award recognizes a non-tenured faculty member whose research and creative activities have significantly impacted their field - either...