A group of dedicated UC Merced alumni have come together to launch an endowed fund focused on supporting LGBTQ+ student initiatives, programs and priorities.
Spearheaded by University of California Regent Emeritus Keith Ellis ’12, the LGBTQ+ Lambda Student Engagement Endowment was created to foster a more inclusive and affirming environment for students from diverse sexual and gender identities, now and for generations to come.
Ellis, along with alumni leaders Derek Sollberger ’11 and Jonathan Ly ’13, and other university graduates, have pooled their philanthropic contributions to establish the first-of-its-kind funding resource at UC Merced for LGBTQ+ students on campus. Aimed at enhancing the university experience for these minority populations, the fund honors and expands the work of UC Merced’s Lambda Alliance, a student organization that has been committed to advocacy, promotion, and community building since its inception in 2008.
As the catalyst for the endowment, Ellis first approached fellow UC Merced Alumni Association (UCMAA) members about the endowment to gauge if there was interest in developing the fund.
“I was having conversations with people, both in groups and individually,” he said. “With Derek and Jonathan being on the UCMAA board, it was a natural starting point. I reached out to a number of board members, and some people said, ‘I can’t pledge that kind of money, but I’ll give what I can when you get it out there.’ I respected that. Even $20 or $100. It’s still meaningful and adds up.”
For Sollberger, who spent a dozen years on the UC Merced faculty, the decision to join the effort was deeply aligned with his academic and advocacy work.
“As a lecturer, I got to see firsthand the effects of a growing campus and shifting budgets,” said Sollberger, who now teaches data science at Princeton University. “When Keith talked about this project, I was really drawn to the notion of having stability for this sector of campus and for the LGBTQ community.”
Ly’s motivation was rooted in his time as a student leader and the experiences that opened his eyes to the diversity and complexity of the student body.
“My time as a leader in student government gave me such a unique opportunity to connect with students from different backgrounds and who had different life experiences,” he said. “People from the Valley, from the Bay Area, from back home in Los Angeles. It gave me the space to think about my part in this greater effort and being a piece of the growing history.”
For this group of committed supporters, establishing a permanent endowment was about creating a lasting impact for LGBTQ+ student initiatives, which often rely on limited or inconsistent funding. They see it as both a commitment to equity and a way to ensure that future generations of students have sustained access to affirming spaces and opportunities.
“I wanted to do something different,” Ellis explained. “Scholarships are great, but I wanted to have a more direct impact on the student experience. There were things we wanted back when I was a student that we didn’t end up getting until later, like Lavender Graduation. I asked, ‘How do we sustain those things long term?’ Because we know funding can be volatile, especially now.”
Ly emphasized the importance of providing resources aimed at preventing the struggles faced by many LGBTQ+ students.
“Something that’s always stuck with me and Derek, especially as campus leaders, is the need for opportunity and support,” he said. “When the idea of the endowment came up, it reminded me that we could hopefully provide that opportunity and help put our LGBTQ students in a position where they have the resources needed to avoid situations where they feel isolated or unseen.”
“Part of what we're trying to do with the endowment is help maintain a tradition for certain campus groups,” Sollberger added. “So that when prospective students look at UC Merced, they see established groups and organizations that will be here when they are.”
Housed in UC Merced's Division of Student Affairs, the LGBTQ+ Lambda Student Engagement Endowment will be earmarked for programs that advance LGBTQ+ student identity development, such as PRIDE Month, Lavender Graduation, ally and identity workshops, leadership development initiatives, and mental-health resources.
And while the endowment carries the vision and dedication of the alumni who helped create it, they are quick to underscore that it’s not about them, but the students who can benefit from the resource. The donors’ ultimate hope is that LGBTQ+ students at UC Merced feel connected and safe in the knowledge that their contributions are valued, much like the alumni’s own undergraduate experiences.
“This is who I am. I didn’t have to come out again at UC Merced as part of my new chapter,” Ellis said. “I hope the same holds true for students today, no matter how much the campus has grown. Diversity brings power with different ideas, perspectives, and beliefs coming together.”
“I was these students in every sense of that statement,” he added. “And now, I just hope they know we see them, and we’re investing in them.”
Support the UC Merced LGBTQ+ Lambda Student Engagement Endowment.
