People exiting the campus after the ceremony is over

This picture is of people leaving the campus after the ceremony is over. This is the afternoon of May 16th, 2009.

Michelle Obama given academic medal

This picture was taken after the ceremony was over. Michelle Obama was awarded an academic medal.

Another shot of crowd standing, with the stage set

This picture shows the crowd standing. If I remember, this was taken just after the national anthem was finished, and before Michelle stated speaking.

Person who collapsed after being overwhelmed by heat

This picture shows a person who collapsed from heat exhaustion on May 16th of 2009. That day was the hottest day of 2009, up to that point. The person seated in the wheelchair collapsed during the ceremony, and was wheeled out by medical personnel.

Shot of crowd standing + plus possibly Jerry Brown on the big screen

People in the crowd, and the people on the stage are standing, because I think that the national anthem is playing. Hard to see, but I think that the man shown on the left hand side of the big screen is Jerry Brown. This picture was taken on May 16th of 2009.

Picture of the crowd, and the big screen showing Michelle Obama

This picture shows people in the crowd. Everyone is standing, because I think that there is music playing, and that people are walking onto the stage. The image on the big screen is of Michelle.

Michelle Obama waving to the crowd

This picture is of Michelle Obama. She is waving to the crowd. This is on May 16th of 2009.

Picture of Michelle Obama walking with Richard Blum

This was the first picture I took of Michelle Obama. In this picture she is walking with Richard Blum, who is the husband of Senator Diane Feinstein.

Cameraman.

This is a picture of a cameraman at the graduation ceremony at UC Merced on May 16th of 2009.

Secret Service agent on the hill

This picture is of a Secret Service agent on a hill that overlooked the graduation ceremony area on the UC Merced campus.

People getting into their seats, shortly before the start of the ceremony

This picture was taken shortly before the ceremony began. It was very hot, and people were beginning to get into their seats.

People down by the stage

These people were down by the stage area. This was before the ceremony began. In the background, you can see law enforcement officials on horseback. This picture was taken on May 16th of 2009.

Waiting room

This picture was taken inside of a waiting room on the UC Merced campus. It was very hot that day, and people were encouraged to wait inside of air conditioned rooms. On the wall, there was some sort of slide show playing. Everyone in here was waiting. When this picture was taken, it was about an hour and a half until the ceremony started.

2 men on top of the roof of the library on UC Merced campus

This picture is of some men in Army fatigues. They were on the roof of the library on the UC Merced campus, scoping out the scene, using binoculars. This was on May 16th of 2009.

Faculty Robing sign

This is a picture of a sign that said "FACULTY ROBING" and that had an arrow pointing to the left. This sign was on the UC Merced campus on May 16th of 2009.

First Aid tent on the UC Merced campus on day of graduation

This picture is of a first aid tent that was set up on the UC Merced campus on the day of Michelle Obama's visit on May 16th of 2009.

Hot Dog that I ate on 5/16/2009

This is a picture of a hot dog that I purchased on the day of Michelle Obama's visit to UC Merced. I bought this hot dog for 2 dollars.

Security searches a bag, people watch.

I can remember this picture being of a big ruckus. Security found some bag, and made a big deal out of searching it. This was on May 16th of 2009.

UC Merced Chancellor Sung Mo Kang

This photo is of UC Merced's Chancellor Sung Mo "Steve" Kang, on the day of Michelle Obama's visit to the campus. There is kind of a long story to this photo, but basically I tried to take a "candid" shot, and it didn't turn out very candid.

View of metal detectors in the background

This picture is from the UC Merced campus on the day of Michelle Obama's visit. In the background, there are people waiting to pass through the metal detectors.

A UC Merced graduate and her family

This picture is of a UC Merced graduate, along with her family. 5/16/09

People beginning to take their seats

This picture is of people starting to take their seats on the morning of May 16th, 2009.

Security guards at the metal detectors

This picture is of some security guards posted at the metal detectors. This picture was taken on May 16th, 2009. These two guards are laughing, because I told a joke about marijuana.

View of long lines of people waiting to go through metal detectors

Police officer was giving me the evil eye. In the background you can see large numbers of people waiting to go through the metal detectors. This picture was taken on the morning of Michelle Obama's visit to UC Merced.

Security inspecting a bag

This picture is of security inspecting a bag on the UC Merced campus on the morning of May 16th, 2009.

People going through security

This picture is of people going though security on the morning of May 16th, 2009. This is on the UC Merced campus.

People walking onto the UC Merced campus on day of Michelle Obama visit

This picture was taken on the morning of May 16th, 2009. This is a random photo of people walking onto the campus. This was probably around 10:30 in the morning.

People entering the UC Merced campus

This picture is of people entering onto campus on the morning of UC Merced's graduation ceremony, featuring the First Lady.

Waiting to get on the shuttle bus

This picture is of people waiting to get on the shuttle buses to the UC Merced campus. This picture was taken on the morning of May 16th, 2009.

People parking cars and getting onto shuttle buses

This picture is from the morning of UC Merced's graduation ceremonies. After parking in the field off of Lake Road, people get into lines and onto shuttle buses.

Line of cars driving into parking lot area

This picture is of a line of cars driving into the designated parking areas. This was taken on the morning of May 16th, 2009.

Roof of a car in a line of cars waiting ot park. Morning of May 16th 2009.

This picture was actually one of my favorites from the day of Michelle Obama's visit. I took a camera in one hand, I held my hand out of the window, and I took a one handed picture. What happened was, the roof of the car was in focus, while the line of cars in the distance is slightly out of focus. This picture was taken on the morning of May 16th, 2009.

Line of cars waiting to park. Morning of May 16th 2009

This picture is of a line of cars, waiting to park. This picture was taken on the morning of May 16th, 2009. I was in a car, going to the ceremony. This is looking up Lake Road, roughly in the 3900 block.

View of some trucks and heavy equipment. UC Merced campus is visible in the distance

This picture is of some of the trucks and heavy equipment that was brought in to prepare the field into a parking lot. The UC Merced campus is in the distance. This picture was taken in May of 2009, in the days leading up to the visit of First Lady Michelle Obama.

The recently prepared field, with UC Merced in the distance

This picture was taken in the days leading up to the visit by Michelle Obama to UC Merced. This field had it's grass cut, and was leveled down, in order to create a parking lot. This picture was taken in May of 2009.

Bunny rabbit reacting to the recently plowed field

There are many bunny rabbits in the fields near where I grew up. This picture is of a bunny rabbit. The field behind him has it's grass cut, and the ground was flattened in preparation for the large number of cars that were going to come for the graduation ceremony at UC Merced. To my knowledge, nothing similar to this had ever happened in this particular field. I remember taking this picture, and thinking that this bunny rabbit had as interesting look on it's face. Like maybe he knew something big was about to happen.

View of the field, after it was prepared for Obama visit

This is a picture of a field that is right next to the UC Merced campus. In this picture, you can see that the field has been prepared. The grass was cut, and the ground was flattened, in preparation for the graduation ceremony. This field is very close to where I grew up.

Preparing the fields just outside of campus

Little background information here: This is the Flying M Ranch, which is right next to the UC Merced campus. In the days leading up the ceremony, heavy equipment was brought in, and the grass in the field was cut down in order to turn the field into a temporary parking area. This picture is of some of the equipment that was brought in. It was a very unusual sight to see heavy equipment parked by the Flying M gate.

View of metal detectors on the UC Merced campus

This is a picture of metal detectors that were set up on the UC Merced campus in the days before the visit of Michelle Obama.

Another view of stage prepartion in the days before the visit

Another view of stage preparation on the UC Merced campus. This picture was taken in May of 2009.

View of stage prepartion. Lots of chairs.

This picture is of the stage preparation for UC Merced's graduation that featured Michelle Obama as the commencement speaker. This picture was taken in the days leading up to the graduation.

The visit of Michelle Obama to Merced's new UC campus was a major event in Merced's history. People were very excited when the visit was announced.

A view of stage preparation

This is a view of the stage in the days before the event. There are some people on a golf cart thing, and in the middle of the picture is the irrigation canal that runs through the campus. I took a picture, and I can remember that there were people were testing the P.A. system when I took this picture.

Metal Detectors being set up in the days before the event

This picture was taken on the UC Merced campus, shortly before the graduation ceremony and visit of Michelle Obama. These were metal detectors that were being set up, and I decided to snap a photo of them.

Fresno television van leaving the UC Merced campus

Little background information here. This TV van was leaving the UC Merced campus one evening, when I took a picture of it. This was just a few days before the graduation ceremony, and they were on campus filming a segment about the preparation for the event. I can remember watching the segment that night.

This van is from Fresno's ABC television affiliate KFSN ABC 30.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

When I returned back to Merced this year, I was very surprised about the size of the new UC Merced campus. I grew up not far from the campus, and when I was a kid I frequently walked down the bike trail to Lake Yosemite.

I remember when they first built a golf course in the current location of the campus. The golf course eventually closed, and I can remember the excitement and pride that the city felt when the campus was announced.

I had lived in Seattle for a very long time (with the exception of a year in Fresno between 2003-2004), and I was very surprised when I returned for a visit in 2009 to see the campus.

This picture was taken a few weeks before the visit of Michelle Obama to the campus. This poster was an open call for volunteers to assist during the graduation ceremony.

About these pictures and this blog...

Hello! My name is Robby Delaware. I was at the commencement speech given by First Lady Michelle Obama on the UC Merced campus on May 16th of 2009.

I took some photos of this event, and posted them on a location based social networking website called Brightkite.com.

Considering that the visit of Michelle Obama to Merced has considerable historical significance, I have decided to save the photos that I took of this event onto this blog.

These photos are meant to be enjoyed for their historical value. If you like these photos, please feel free to use them in any way that you wish.

I have recently begun work on a historical preservation project with photographs, and I am learning more and more about the importance of preserving historical photographs.

-Robby Delaware