UC Merced Magazine | Commemorative Chronicle

DONOR IMPACT

TWO DECADES, COUNTLESS FUTURES

UC Merced and Bank of America Mark Scholarship Milestone

August 9, 2005 — Founding Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey (le ) with Linda Barreto ’09 in the California Room

By Francesca Dinglasan

at sense of belonging stayed with her. Today, Barreto is a professor of law at San Joaquin College of Law’s New American Legal Clinic — and one of just two UC Merced alumni to serve on the University Foundation Board of Trustees. “I wanted to donate my time, experience and feedback,” she said. “Being involved in high-level decisions and feeling like my voice is heard as a Bobcat feels very meaningful to me. It is an honor to be on the Board of Trustees and know my ideas are being ingrained in future projects and decisions as we continue to grow the campus. “UC Merced has evolved so much from when I started in 2005 to now,” she added. “Twenty years later and the campus is incredible.”

hen Linda Barreto ’09 walked into a UC Merced scholarship luncheon as a brand-new freshman in 2005, she wasn’t sure what to expect. en came the oversized check — and the sense that something important had just shi ed in her life. “I remember being so proud holding the giant check,” she said with a laugh. “I felt so honored to just be there.” e event was a rst for Barreto and her family.

Twenty years later and the campus is incredible.

“I’d never been to something like that before. It felt so fancy, and my mom was there with me,” she said. “I felt special. I felt like I was part of something big, even though at that time, my 18-year-old self couldn’t really grasp what it was or understand what I was doing, really.”

LINDA BARRETO ’09 ATTORNEY & PROFESSOR