UC Merced is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action and compliance with all laws and regulations pertaining to both.
Our policy is to provide employment, compensation, training, and other conditions or opportunities associated with employment without regard to race, color, religion, marital status, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), pregnancy, age (over 40), genetic information (including family medical history), disability status, veteran status or any other basis protected by law.
UC Merced hires, assigns work, promotes, compensates and retains employees only on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and our business needs.
The actual phrase "affirmative action" was first used in President John F. Kennedy's 1961 Executive Order 10925, which requires federal contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color or national origin." The phrase was later used by Lyndon Johnson in 1967 when he used the executive order to expand affirmative action requirements to benefit women.