UC Merced Celebrates 20 Years of Firsts

Twenty years to the day after students first crossed Scholars Bridge into the campus, UC Merced celebrated its milestone birthday with a party, a drone show, and the university's first NCAA Division II sporting event.

A large crowd of community members, many wearing T-shirts and waving rally towels that heralded the new era, joined students, faculty and staff as the UC Merced women's soccer team took the field against Simon Fraser University of British Columbia. A nearly full moon rose in the late-summer sky for the first competition since the university entered Division II.

A pregame birthday celebration included food trucks, face painting, a deejay and performances by UC Merced's drum line and dance team. The evening culminated with a drone show themed "Fiat Lux" after the University of California's motto (Latin for "Let there be light").

Since its first year, the campus has graduated more than 21,000 alumni, who work in sectors as varied as medicine and media, engineering and government.

"UC Merced began with vision, courage, and a deep belief in the power of education to transform lives," Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. "We are still building. And today, we honor our past, celebrate our success, and look ahead to a future filled with promise."

At halftime, the university announced a major gift from one of its most dedicated supporters and partners. The Campos Foundation donated $5 million for the development of a new state-of-the-art campus facility dedicated to track and field. The university shared plans to name the new track Campos Field in recognition of the foundation's contribution.

"This is an honor," said Marco Campos, founder and executive chairman of the Colorado-based Campos Companies. "This campus is unusual." He said he made the connection to UC Merced though one of his employees, an alumnus of the school.

UC Merced originated with a 1988 decision by the UC Board of Regents to begin planning for a new university in the San Joaquin Valley to meet long-term enrollment demand. After a process that reviewed locations throughout the valley, the Merced site was chosen in 1995.

The university initially opened in offices at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater. The campus opened to 875 students in the fall of 2005 and has since grown to offer more than 60 undergraduate programs and 18 graduate programs to a student population of roughly 9,000.

UC Merced has climbed in national rankings and impact. Earlier this year, UC Merced achieved R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a recognition given to the top echelon of research institutions in the nation. It is the only R1 university in the Central Valley of California one of only 187 accredited doctoral-granting universities in the United States - out of nearly 4,000 - that feature "very high research spending and doctorate production." Last fall, the Wall Street Journal ranked UC Merced No. 1 for social mobility, which described how well colleges and universities attract, retain and help students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds complete their degrees and graduate into promising career.

UC Merced has been on the cutting edge of sustainability in higher education since its inception and was the first public research university certified as carbon-neutral. Every campus building is certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The 20^th birthday celebration will continue with events throughout the school year.

Two special exhibitions, 20 Years of UC Merced Art and Architecture at La Galería, and Foundation to Future: 20 Years of the UC Merced Library, showcase the creativity and scholarship that have shaped the university. Alumni events are planned in San Francisco and Los Angeles, demonstrating UC Merced's impact around the state as well as in the Central Valley.

Patty Guerra