Visitors to UC Merced will now be greeted to a stunning monument paying homage to the campus’ bobcat mascot.
Officials on Wednesday unveiled a bronze statue of “Big Rufus.” The statue, located at UC Merced’s main entrance, is around 10-foot-long and is nearly 17 feet high, posted on three staggered concrete-and-steel pillars, according to a UC Merced news release.
The pillars of the monument are stamped with words chosen by students: “Resilience. Opportunity. Future. Diversity. Hope.”
“The bobcat has roamed the wild landscapes of North America for hundreds of years,” said Juan Sánchez Muñoz, UC Merced chancellor, in the release.
“Our mascot is a celebration of the fierce independence and courage it took to place a university here.”
Dan Medina, the artist who created the monument, said the monument’s message also has special personal significance. His mother, whose name was Hope, died recently.
“It’s a word you chose, a word I believe in and a word that is dear to my heart. So I thank you for that,” Medina told attendees at Wednesday’s unveiling.
The project was made possible through philanthropic support from lead donor Art Kamangar and others.
Jose Medina, vice president of the Staff Assembly and a Merced native, said the monument symbolizes the creativity, innovation and shared values that make UC Merced unique.
“Public arts serve as a reflection of our community, embodying our hopes, our diversity and our vision for the future,” said Medina, program coordinator for the Calvin E. Bright Success Center.
Kevin Mitchell, a UC Merced founding professor and chair of the Academic Senate, asked attendees to be thankful that, in 2001, the bobcat was chosen as mascot instead of a strong contender: the fairy shrimp, a 1-centimeter creature that lives in the vernal pools nearby.
“Otherwise,” Mitchell said in the release, “those here might have been forced to gaze at the world’s largest sculpture of a tiny crustacean.”
