Kenneth Mashinchi

It’s that time of year again - time to show your Bobcat pride at UC Merced’s annual Homecoming celebration.

Students, staff, faculty, alumni and the community are welcome to the two-day event, which will include a downtown block party for the first time.

The event kicks off Friday at the Downtown Campus Center (DCC). Since its opening in January, the DCC has helped revitalize downtown Merced and, from 6-11 p.m., it will be the site of new Homecoming events.

UC Merced has long served as an educational opportunity for undocumented students and their families. A new grant will ensure the university can help more scholars realize their academic, career and personal goals.

UC Merced is one of 32 campuses that will receive support this academic year from the new California Campus Catalyst Fund. To date, the Catalyst Fund has raised nearly $10 million for a three-year initiative founded by educators, funders and advocates.

It’s the crown jewel of sustainability — a platinum certification signifying all the steps to making a space sustainable have been met.

For UC Merced, platinum certification had eluded the Green Labs and Green Offices programs. That changed recently when the Office of the Chancellor achieved platinum Green Offices status and biology labs directed by School of Natural Sciences instructional lab coordinator Jim Whalen secured platinum Green Labs certification.

When UC Merced senior Kevin Citalan thought about what he was thankful for as the Thanksgiving holiday grew near, he instantly thought of a turbulent time during the summer.

In August, Citalan, a Los Angeles native, was trying to complete paperwork to apply for a double major in cognitive science and management and business economics. Citalan, a former foster youth who is part of the university’s Guardian Scholars program, says it was the hardest three weeks of his academic career.

For the second straight year, UC Merced surpassed its goal of 1,000 donors in a single day for the Give Tue UC Merced campaign.

Over $170,000 was raised — with the help of a generous matching gift from Foster Poultry Farms — for the Build the Future Scholarship Fund. In five years of the university’s annual day of giving, over $1.5 million has been raised through donations and matching gifts, including a previous gift from the Wells Fargo Foundation.

The Beginnings sculpture serves as the focal point of UC Merced’s campus, and starting this week, it will also be a beacon of light for the holiday season.

Chancellor Dorothy Leland and Staff Assembly are hosting the second annual Beginnings Lighting on Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Quad.

Growing up in San Juan Bautista, Vanessa Andrade loved hanging out with her father and his collection of cars and tractors.

She spent hours in the “barn” or shop, helping change the oil in cars, playing with tools and tinkering with her grandfather’s old Allis-Chalmers tractor. So perhaps it’s no surprise that this UC Merced senior — and Chancellor’s Scholar — found her academic calling in mechanical engineering.

On Dec. 15, Andrade will participate in the university’s fall commencement ceremony. She next plans to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

UC Merced has a track record of helping first-generation and underrepresented students succeed in college, earning high rankings nationally for social mobility and outperforming expected graduation rates.

As UC Merced students continue to rise above their circumstances, a Bay Area organization is producing a pipeline that helps these students begin the road to success before they set foot on the campus.

Behind every Bobcat goal, basket, spike and race, there is a student-athlete who is dedicated to success on and off the court.

The drive to be the best they can be is supported by the Merced community, and nothing encapsulates the support more than the Ma Kelley events every spring.

The explorer mentality, public health Professor Stephen Wooding said, is what sets the students of UC Merced apart from anywhere else. A willingness to try something new, to go somewhere they’d never thought possible, is a part of the Bobcat DNA.

For three students, the time they spent traveling up and down the Amazon River over winter break fully embodies this desire to explore.