Miguel Lopez is a pioneer of political ed with various accolades in his name. He is a UC Merced Alumni from the Class of 2012, former ASUCM President, and a sitting school board member of the Merced City School District. He unleashes what we don't know about the struggles of our education system taking a toll on kids' learning and well-being.

He shares the latest on what the COVID-19 response efforts from the Merced City School District look like towards struggling public schools, and weighs in on the political tug of war the education system finds itself addressing systemic racism in our schools amid the Black Lives Matter Movement mobilizing young people outside of school.

Original Air Date: June 17, 2020

Daniela (Danny) Romero is the former Internal Vice President of UCI's undergrad student government (ASUCI) who graduated from UCI in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a fellow friend of the host from two different UC campuses, she stops by to check-in how she is navigating her post-grad life graduating amid the pandemic. She shares how UC Irvine responded to the campus lockdown and the switch to Zoom University affecting UCI students differently. She reflects back on her time serving at ASUCI before she was the first Peruvian-American to become Internal Vice President in a generation.

She wraps up with a takeaway for all young people who doubt the efficacy of getting involved in politics and social justice in a world dominated by the mainstream media and the Internet.

Original Air Date: June 15, 2020

Samuel Luna, a 2nd year Political science major, is the current Senator At Large who launched himself on the ASUCM Presidential ticket against his nemesis from the other side of the aisle, Elizabeth Meza Torres.

He shares how he sees himself carry on the legacy of ASUCM President Erik Flores in terms of budget spending and resources.

Original Air Date: April 14, 2020

Elizabeth Meza Torres, is a current ASUCM Senator for the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA), running for ASUCM President for the next academic year in such an unprecedented time when student life on campus shuts down for good.

Original Air Date: April 14, 2020

After kicking off the first few episodes of Season 1, we pick up where we left off in 2020 with a new beginning for the Divergent College Vibes Podcast.

We are honored to have our FIRST guest of the show ever. Christian Elenes (Cre) is a local rapper from Palm Springs, the finest partyhouse of the Westside who is currently a sophomore at UC Merced looking to leave a lifelong mark on campus through his music. Ever since Catherine Flores (KATT) was the first student artist from UC Merced to headline music venues and local shows, he became part of a series of student artists like KATT to set the stage for talent and passion for music and the arts to take place in UC Merced and shape the culture of the Central Valley.

He brings the Cali rap sound and Palm Springs spirit to UC Merced through his music. He joins the show to talk about his latest performance on campus, his early beginnings, his music passion, and his vision for the future of UC Merced and Gen-Z in the music industry.

Original Air Date: February 19, 2020

This podcast kicks off Season 1 with its FIRST EPISODE by your host Jeremy Veramendi, a freshman from UC Merced with a major in environmental engineering and minoring in political science. His inspiring and remarkable success story on how he got to where he is in his background and career pathway while opening the floodgates of his curiosity to connect with young leaders surrounding in all aspects of our everyday living, concerning climate change, politics, race, public health, education, sports, entertainment, culture, and much more.

Overall, Jeremy believes that empowering our student democracy through this open platform of exchangeable ideas, startups, and experiences, from college campuses, is what we need in America to help tell the story of creative minds, political leaders, community leaders, philanthropists, and icons of society, through the lens of a young America.

Original Air Date: October 25, 2019