Diversity

When does freedom of speech cross the line and become hate speech? What’s considered protected speech? And, how do universities strike the delicate balance between allowing individuals or groups the right to free speech while protecting those who may be harmed or offended by that speech or the way it is expressed?

These are some of the complex issues that will be discussed Tuesday, Feb. 13, in the Chancellor’s Dialogue on Diversity and Interdisciplinarity speaker series.

Working in education over the years, I have learned to never let inhospitable and toxic circumstances destroy one’s soul, but to use education as a way to empower, transform, radically heal and cultivate seeds of hope.

UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland united with members of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in Washington, D.C., earlier this week to call on Congress to pass a permanent legislative solution to protect young immigrants known as Dreamers.

As part of an ongoing community and campus dialog about race, the Graduate Students of Color Coalition at UC Merced presents “Addressing Race in Our Community: Unifying Against Bigotry,” a special event that is free and open to the public.

The event begins at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the Classroom and Office Building 2, Room 290.

Everyone is invited to a special event featuring UCLA Professor Jemima Pierre, speaking on “Africa and the Project of Black Studies” as part of a workshop entitled “The Critical Politics of Diversity in the Multiversity: Towards Africana Studies in the UC System.”

Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is a biogeochemist who studies the impact of climate change on Sierra Nevada soils. She’s also active in efforts to recruit and retain women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The decision to end DACA is a cruel bait-and-switch for the many young adults who are living, learning, and working here under its protections. Congress must now step up and pass legislation that will allow Dreamers to remain in this country to pursue the opportunities they have earned.

The University of California, Merced, received the largest incoming class of students in its 13-year history this semester, as total enrollment neared 8,000 for the first time.

The fastest-growing university in the nation, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, UC Merced now enrolls 7,375 undergraduate and 592 graduate students for a total of 7,967 students — an 8.6 percent increase from 7,336 in 2016, as reported in the university’s fall census.