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Last month, I wrote about the University of California’s most recent crop of newly admitted students — how many people applied, how many got in and what the demographics of the group say about the future of one of the state’s most prized institutions.

One thing is becoming increasingly clear: U.C. Merced, the system’s first new campus to open since 1965, will play a crucial role in educating young, Latino Californians, who have been historically underrepresented at the university.

[Read more about who got into the University of California this year.]

Chancellor Dorothy Leland has helmed U.C. Merced through its initial growth spurt, including a $1.3 billion expansion, known as the Merced 2020 Project, that will double the campus’s size.

She’s set to retire on Aug. 15 after about eight years on the job, and a search is set for her replacement.