THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Jennifer Medina, The New York Times

As he walks to class at the University of California, Merced, Freddie Virgen sees a sea of faces in various shades of brown. He is as likely to hear banda corridos blaring out of his classmates’ earphones as hip-hop. With affectionate embraces, he greets fellow members of Hermanos Unidos, a peer support group for Latinos that is one of the largest student organizations on campus.

“When I looked at other campuses, I would find myself feeling that I didn’t belong, like I’d stick out,” he said. “This was the only place where I saw so many students I could connect to, who would get where I was coming from. Even if it felt like academic shock, it wouldn’t feel like culture shock.”

IN C.A.S.E. YOU MISSED IT

By James Leonard, External Relations

Fred Ruiz, founding member of the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees, has received the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Ruiz’s support of the campus dates back to long before UC Merced’s doors first opened to students and includes philanthropy, advocacy and service. “Fred is one of those exceptional individuals that truly leads by example,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said.

Ruiz, chairman emeritus and co-founder of Ruiz Foods, served on the UC Board of Regents from 2004 to 2016.

FACULTY FEATURE

By Jason Alvarez, External Relations

A $3.8 million grant from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program is funding the UC Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center at UC Merced. This positions the campus and the San Joaquin Valley as a leader in the study of public health and policy matters related to tobacco and marijuana. Professor Anna Song, a health psychology professor and expert in teen smoking behavior, will serve as the center’s director.

FORMER FOSTER YOUTH FORGES

AMERICAN DREAM

By Nicole Freeling, UC Office of the President

The Office of the President’s coverage of 2018 graduates included students from each campus who represent UC’s pioneering spirit and its role in creating leaders both at home and abroad.

Tomanik’e Banks, who earned a bachelor’s degree in public health in May, is among the students featured for forging their own version of the American Dream to make their mark on the world. Banks, who grew up in several foster homes, was a Guardian Scholar and founder of the Guardian Scholars Club here at UC Merced. She’s now a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone.

GRANTING GREATER ACCESS

By Jason Alvarez, External Relations

UC Merced is one of just 33 schools in the nation selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to receive funding to test a new undergraduate biological sciences curriculum — one that’s more inclusive of underrepresented and non-traditional students.

“This grant will help us implement faculty development programs, revise the laboratory curriculum and build student-faculty learning communities that promote inclusivity across the university,” said Jennifer Manilay, professor of biological sciences and program director on the new grant.

FEATURED FOUNDATION FUNDING

By Lorena Anderson, External Relations

Recasting the role of the humanities in public policy requires collaboration. Thanks to funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, UC Merced is launching a two-year project to bring academics and non-academics together to do just that — with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of those in San Joaquin Valley.

Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley: Community Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanitiesis a project that will “place UC Merced at the vanguard of institutions that are working to rethink the Humanities Ph.D.,” said Jill Robbins, dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

By Jason Alvarez, External Relations

UC Solar has received $1.1 million to develop solar-thermal desalination technologies that reduce the cost of creating fresh water from otherwise unusable waters.

UC Solar Director Professor Roland Winston will lead a team that includes professors Gerardo Diaz and James Palko, focused on developing low-cost, portable technologies that collect and store solar-thermal energy that can be used to power water-purification systems.

UC MERCED MACES

By Miguel Vega, External Relations

The Merced nAnomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing, or MACES, serves as a nexus for nanomaterials-based research and education. MACES was launched in the summer of 2015 at the University of California Merced, the first American research university of the 21st Century.

With substantial support from NASA, MACES and UC Merced are committed to increasing student participation in research, particularly for historically underrepresented groups. Through the center’s research and educational programs, UC Merced students like undergrad Victoria Arias and Ph.D. candidates Zack Petrek and Carlos Ortuno have been able to intern at various NASA facilities and contribute to future space missions.