Michael V. Drake, the outgoing president of the 10-campus University of California system, made an unannounced appearance Sunday morning as UC Merced's commencement speaker.
More than 1,500 students graduated over the course of three ceremonies during the weekend, representing the largest graduating class of the school’s 20-year-history, UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said.
Drake, the 21st UC president and the first African American to hold the role, delivered advice Sunday to 800 graduates from the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts: don’t settle, strive for excellence.
“UC Merced is an inspiring reality, a real success story for the entire country, and you are all now a part of that success story,” Drake said.
He mentioned that exactly 30 years ago on May 18, 1995, the Board of Regents approved Merced as the site of the 10th and newest UC campus.
“Hail to the path and all that has gone on to bring us here to this day,” Drake added.
He relayed to graduates the three most important messages he’s retained from officiating more than 125 graduation ceremonies in his career: 1) Always be prepared, 2) mistakes are normal and 3) give your best.
As an example, he narrated the story of how he improvised a nine-minute speech in 2014 at UC Irvine, after a teleprompter malfunctioned in front of 45,000 people during a live television broadcast.
President Barack Obama’s guest appearance at that particular graduation had attracted mass attention.
“The point was I knew my speech, I knew what I wanted to say, and when the teleprompter went off, I kept going on with the message, and it worked OK, and we were able to get through the rough moment,” Drake said.
“It's always good to do your best, to be prepared, so in case there's a rough moment, in case your teleprompter goes off in front of live TV, you can continue to move forward.”
Last July, Drake announced he’d be stepping down from his role as UC president at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. His successor, James B. Milliken, chancellor of the University of Texas system, will begin in his new role August 1.
Drake’s been praised for his leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic and has been criticized for his response to campus protests in support of Palestine. He’s also been a loyal supporter of UC Merced and attended the groundbreaking for the university's medical education building last May.
“Opening a campus anywhere was a big endeavor, and opening one in the Central Valley was going to take quite a bit of effort,” Drake said during Sunday’s presentation.
‘Merced was chosen because of the will of the people of the region. Thousands of people wrote letters, thousands of children wrote letters, about why Merced should be the home of the new UC campus.”
During Sunday’s ceremony, Muñoz presented Drake with UC Merced’s Chancellor’s Medal, the university’s highest honor.
Previous recipients have included former first lady Michelle Obama and Cruz Bustamante, California’s former lieutenant governor.
Prior to his time as UC president, Drake served as president of Ohio State University from 2014 to 2020. He was also chancellor of UC Irvine from 2005 to 2014.
He also holds faculty appointments at the UCSF School of Medicine as a professor of ophthalmology and at the UC Riverside School of Medicine as a professor of medicine, according to his biography.
Seizing the time
Of the more than 1,500 graduates who participated in the weekend’s commencement ceremonies, there were 120 students from the Graduate Division on Friday, 600 students from the School of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences on Saturday and 800 students from the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts on Sunday.
In UC Merced tradition, the graduates marched in procession before the ceremony through the campus’ “Beginnings” sculpture, a 40-foot tall statue with two metal arms curving upward.
Incoming students customarily walk through the statue in the direction of the main campus, and exit in the opposite direction upon graduation, according to Alyssa Johansen, UC Merced’s public information officer.
Chancellor Muñoz led the ceremony’s opening remarks. “We know that you will contribute to a world that desperately needs your ideas, and needs your problem-solving skills. It needs your patience, your compassion, your humanity, your commitment to excellence, and your willingness to explore, to create, and to innovate further,” Muñoz told graduates Sunday.
‘And some of you came to UC Merced, with many competing priorities, and challenges in your life,” he said.
Muñoz then asked the seated graduates to stand if they had to support their family while earning their degree, or were the first in their family to attend college. A majority of the students rose from their seats.
About 61% of undergraduates at UC Merced are first-generation students.
Student commencement speaker Maya Manesh also recognized the obstacles she and her class overcame during their time as undergraduates.
“The graduating class of 2025, our journey here at UC Merced was anything but ordinary,” said Manesh, who graduated with a degree in cognitive science and sociology.
She plans to use her degree to become an academic advisor and increase access to higher education. “We entered this campus on the fading precipice of a global pandemic, all messed up and in anticipation as to what the next four years held in store for us,” the Dublin native said.
For 21-year-old Sandra Hernandez Martinez, the past four years have been an opportunity to advocate for undocumented students like herself. Martinez worked at the Monarch Center, the school’s resource center for undocumented students, while earning her degree in psychology.
“We have about 40-something [undocumented] students graduating this weekend, and it's definitely an increase from last year,” Martinez said. “It's good to see that more undocumented students are graduating. I feel very happy that I'm part of that group, that California gave me a lot of support to be able to attend school, but I know that all of that was impossible without the advocacy and all the effort from the ones who came before me,” she said.
Martinez said she plans to pursue a master’s degree in higher education, administration and leadership.
“I'm blessed and I feel grateful,” Martinez said. “I feel proud of myself to be able to come this far. Being born in Oaxaca and being an undocumented immigrant. I feel very proud that I am. I did this.”
London Wright from Pasadena graduated Sunday with a degree in psychology, which he plans to use to provide counseling services to low-income youth.
“I've always been around kids, like in my high school, that have always struggled with hardships back home or just at school,” Wright said. “Sometimes it's led to situations that could have been avoided if they just got the right help, and I want to provide that help for low-income youth and young adults in the future to help prevent situations like my friends had to go through.”
The 22-year old graduate donned a mortarboard that read, “The Rose That Grew From Concrete.” It’s the title of a book written by the late rap artist Tupac Shakur.
“It’s a representation of growing out of hardships. No matter what comes your way, you can always make it out of it,” Wright said. He then described the impact of the Eaton Fire on his hometown community.
“Especially after the fires that happened this past January, a lot of my friends lost their homes, a lot of my friends lost their family businesses and everything. It's all bouncing back and everyone's sticking together and we're all trying to be there for each other.”
Another psychology graduate, Luna Fadlallah also dreams of using her education to help others and plans to attend medical school.
“I had so many family members, unfortunately, who passed away from the war that was going on in Syria because there wasn't enough medical attention there, because there weren't enough resources,” Fadlallah said. “ I don't want that to happen to anybody else anywhere, not even just in Syria.”
The Syria native sported a red and white keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, that draped around her shoulders. “I have it with me to show solidarity, not only to Syria, but also to Palestine,” she said.
Last year, student protesters interrupted a commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley with demands that the university divest from ties to Israel due to the country’s militarized attacks on Gaza.
No protests unfolded at Sunday’s commencement ceremony at UC Merced.