Kenneth Mashinchi

Graduating senior Araceli Perez was looking for a new environment when she moved from Hacienda Heights to attend UC Merced in 2015.

The shift from the high-intensity region of Los Angeles to the more relaxed atmosphere of Merced was more than a change of pace. In her four years at UC Merced, she always welcomed the chance to experience something new — whether that was cheerleading or back-packing for an archaeological project in the Sierra Nevada.

Undergraduates Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna entered UC Merced through different doors.

Arias was a freshman impressed with the campus and community. Caradonna was a transfer student and athlete sold on UC Merced’s championship women’s basketball team.

Dorothy Leland announced today (May 13) her intention to step down as chancellor of the University of California, Merced, effective Aug. 15, 2019.

“These have been the most gratifying eight years of my long professional career,” said Leland, who was appointed by the Board of Regents in 2011 to serve as the third Chancellor of the then 6-year-old campus. “The decision to step down is not easy, but the moment is right, both for the campus and for me.”

Asmaa Mohamed’s enthusiasm for research is contagious. Her passion not only radiates through her words, but it is also evident in the research career she has built in her undergraduate years at UC Merced.

Mohamed was born in Egypt. In 2013, her father accepted a position as a senior medical physicist in the Merced Cancer Center, prompting her family to move to Merced. About four months before immigrating, she began to learn common words to prepare for full English immersion.

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’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.

Success under the most intense pressure has always come naturally for Margaret “Margie” Dingeldein.

A water polo standout at Merced High School, Dingeldein helped the U.S. win a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004. Thriving in a high-stress environment didn’t end when she left the pool — she is now an anesthesiologist at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.

Dingeldein is the keynote speaker for the ninth annual Building Future Champions Dinner and Auction and 22^nd annual Ma Kelley Memorial Golf Tournament on April 25 and 26.

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.