Jody Murray

Bright Center Student Lightens Lives with Determination, Empathy

March 26, 2025

Maddison Crump and two other UC Merced students

Sometimes you meet a young person who makes such a powerful impression that you want to vault forward a few decades to see how much they lifted others and elevated our world. Maddison Crump is one of those people. At age 21 she has logged over a dozen years of making a difference. A self-...

AI generated illustration for UC Merced Tobacco Summit

UC Merced Hosts Tobacco Control Summit

The community is invited to an all-day summit where researchers will present cutting-edge information on the latest efforts to stem tobacco use in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills...

UC Merced Professor Ma Vang and print of painting that is on the cover of her book "History on the Run"

Untangling Hmong History with UC Merced’s Ma Vang

Exploring sources of historical narratives can take you to places where walls seem to move and truth feels fluid and interchangeable. Ma Vang’s research has focused on how people narrate their...

One of UC Merced Professor Yehuda Sharim's photos for the "Reparaciones" essay with Professor Lorena Alvarado

Stitches that Endure: With ‘Reparaciones,’ New Visions of Healing

Two UC Merced professors have collaborated on a meditative and innovative exploration of the literal and figurative threads that weave through a Southern California city. “Reparaciones,...

UC President Michael Drake signs a white coat to celebrate an important milestone for UC Merced's Medical Education Building.

Following the Mission to Improve Valley Health Care

It was a groundbreaking Tuesday night so there were shovels. Many shovels. Full sized, posterized, miniaturized (in a gift box). All to mark a symbolic turning of earth for UC Merced’s Medical...

AI illustration of rural dangers of tobacco use

Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center Gets $3.9 Million Extension

UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center has earned multiyear funding to continue its mission to embolden community partners and share policy-influencing data in the long battle...

UC Merced Children's Opera "Panic in the Barnyard"

Free Performance Takes Opera Down to the Farm

UC Merced Arts invites everyone to a free performance that serves up whimsy, interactive fun and an inspiring message with a big helping of … operatic singing.  “Panic in the...

Graduating students honored by UC Merced

SSHA Honors Outstanding Graduating Students

ul { font: normal .9em Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } ul p { font: normal .9em Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } Thirteen graduating students were honored by UC Merced’s School...

Advisor and student of Undergraduate Research Journal

Happy Birthday to Undergrad Journals that Spark Students’ Aspirations

It’s a pair of special birthdays for UC Merced’s two student-run journals for undergraduates. The Vernal Pool , which publishes creative stories, poems and images, turned 10 this...

Student Production of ’26 Pebbles’ Encircles Tragedy with Healing and Hope

It is impossible to avoid — the real-life event that frames the play “26 Pebbles” is disturbing. Heartbreaking. Which makes all the more remarkable the play’s uplifting...