When this year’s incoming freshman class pours into the UC
Merced campus, there won’t be any school lore to soak up, any
upperclassmen to dodge in the halls, or any footsteps to
follow.
And as much as college will shape these freshmen, they will also
shape their college.
That’s because Sept. 5 will mark the official arrival of
the University of California’s 10th campus, a rural San
Joaquin Valley site 17 uphill years in the making.
With an incoming class of just 1,000 students ““ a majority
of whom are undergraduates ““ UC Merced’s campus will
likely be born a quiet one.
Roughly four times larger in land area than UCLA, Merced will
enroll not even 4 percent as many students as its Westwood sister
school.
School officials say that’s all for the better.
“We’re so small it’s almost like a private
school,” said Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey. “That
allows for a lot more interaction with faculty. That’s going
to facilitate a lot of research opportunities that will be beyond
dish washing.”
As the school grows, UC officials hope the new university
““ expected to eventually accommodate 25,000 students ““
will ease the rapidly growing demand for spots at other UCs,
including UCLA.
Merced will open its doors as the UC faces record numbers of
high school graduates, which combined with state budget cuts has
forced the university system to decide between overcrowded campuses
and turning away UC-eligible applicants.
“It’s going to be another option for
students,” said Brandy Nikaido, regional communications
director at the UC Office of the President’s San Joaquin
Valley branch.
Merced’s debut marks the UC’s historic arrival into
California’s heartland, a region more known for its grapes,
tomatoes and asparagus than higher education.
“I have a huge responsibility,” said Jackie Shay, a
soon-to-be human biology student from Manhattan Beach. “I
really want to help this school become what it wants to
be.”
The school’s impact is already being felt in the sleepy
agricultural town of Merced, where a population of nearly 75,000
has watched real estate prices soar as the university’s
opening draws near.
“The University of California’s 10th campus will
spark economic progress in the San Joaquin Valley and will enhance
educational access for qualified students throughout the
state,” said UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale in a press
release.
Many expect the university’s opening to improve education
in the region as a whole.
“Having UC Merced here is going to have an effect all the
way down to the K-12 level,” said Jennifer Manilay, a cell
biology professor.
Manilay, who lived in the Bay Area before moving to Merced,
recently enrolled her son and daughter at the local elementary
school.
“A lot of the students in this area, they’re not
achieving UC eligibility. They might not have as many opportunities
at their high school compared to the other parts of the state. The
community can come and be exposed to a university
atmosphere,” she said.
Nearly half of Merced’s maiden class students are the
first from their families to attend college, and 68 percent will
receive financial aid.
University officials expect this group’s determination to
help get the new college on its feet.
“As first generation, they didn’t have any role
models but they made it through high school with the appropriate
qualifications,” Tomlinson-Keasey said. “This is a very
committed group.”
Merced has already set up three colleges ““ engineering,
natural sciences and social sciences, and humanities and arts
““ but the university’s academic programs are still in
their developmental stages, which will allow students to take a
more interdisciplinary approach.
Though its opening was already delayed a year because of the
state budget crisis, the gubernatorial recall election, and the
discovery of rare fairy shrimp at the university’s original
site, Merced won’t have its science and engineering building
ready until spring.
The setback that will force engineering students to take a
10-minute shuttle ride off campus to Castle Air Force Base for
labs.
Merced faculty expects curriculum heavily based on service
learning and research, along with student-initiated
extracurriculars.
“One person came to me and said, “˜I’ll come if
you let me be editor of the newspaper,'”
Tomlinson-Keasey said. “And I said, “˜That’s fine.
I don’t have an editor. I don’t even have a
newspaper.'”