The UC Davis graduation ceremony was abruptly interrupted on Friday morning, as the heat left six people hospitalized and more than half of the students in attendance were unable to cross the stage. At 10:56 a.m., UC Davis posted a message on Twitter that those who had already passed the stage were encouraged to leave with their families due to the “extremely hot” temperatures. A little later, an announcement was made at the stadium telling all the graduates to clean the stadium and announcing that the ceremony would stop. “We believe we have reached dangerous conditions,” said the announcement, which can be heard live on the graduation. “We would like to honor our graduates who have not arrived at the stadium, but for the sake of public safety we ask you to leave the stadium.” The temperature on Friday morning in Davis was in the mid-1990s, with an overheating warning in effect. According to UC Davis spokeswoman Julia Ann Easley, the campus received 35 calls for heat-related medical assistance, and six of those individuals were taken to local hospitals. The announcement was made about three hours after the ceremony and just over an hour after the graduates began to cross the stage. Of the approximately 2,300 students who attended the ceremony, about 1,440 could not walk, according to UC Davis spokeswoman Kat Kerlin. Friday’s ceremony was the first in-person graduation ceremony since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time this year, UC Davis is hosting three graduation ceremonies for undergraduate students – separated by their specialties – instead of the previous practice of seven school-based graduation ceremonies. When the university announced the change in 2020, it said the new format would require the use of outdoor venues such as its soccer field. Friday marked the first of three ceremonies. Another is scheduled for Saturday morning and the third for Sunday. Curlin said “plans for the rest of the weekend are still being discussed,” in light of Friday’s events. In a press release on Friday afternoon, the university invited students who did not have the opportunity to walk to attend a separate ceremony on Sunday with their families. “We are deeply saddened that some students did not have the opportunity to cross the stage,” the statement said. “We appreciate your understanding and we know this was frustrating.” Many students and attendees visited social media to express their frustration with the organization and cancellation of the ceremony. UC student Davis Tiara Abraham sang the national anthem at Friday’s ceremony. He arrived at campus at about 7 a.m. to avoid the crowds, and said it was already hot. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. “I knew it would be very hot,” Abraham told The Sacramento Bee. “It was a huge lesson, I knew it would last more than two hours.” He said graduates with hats and toilets began entering the stadium around 8:15 a.m. to take their places. Abraham took the stage at about 9:30 a.m. to start singing the national anthem. He said he was under a backstage scene and had some shadow while singing. For the students waiting to graduate, they sat in chairs in the middle of the field. They had no shade or protection from the heat. Abraham graduates from UC Davis during Saturday’s ceremony, which is scheduled at the same time of day with similar temperatures predicted in the mid-1990s. He will also perform the national anthem at the start of Saturday’s ceremony Abraham is from Sacramento and graduated at the age of 16 with a degree in music vocal performance and went to graduate school at Indiana University to pursue a master’s degree. Her mother and brother are graduates of UC Davis, so the graduation ceremony is important to her. “I do not know what will happen tomorrow,” Abraham said. “If they cancel the ceremony, that would be very disappointing. I was just really looking forward to it. ” Mairéad Ryan was among the UC Davis alumni at Friday’s ceremony. He said students waited in line in nylon dresses under the hot sun for more than two hours before being told to enter the stadium. “We were told when we got to our seats that we could get up and get water or use the bathroom at any time, but the queues were so long that they ran out of water bottles in the middle of the ceremony,” Ryan wrote. in an email to The Bee. “The Grads, including me, went to the porta potties and wiped themselves with water and sat in front of AC / AC fans in there.” Ryan was among the students who walked through the stage before the ceremony stopped. At that point, the students said they could leave as soon as they got their diploma. “I told one of the organizers that I felt like I was going to faint, but they told me ‘just walk away from the stage,’” Ryan said. “Everything was so disorganized and there was no excuse for how it was conducted.” This story was originally published on June 10, 2022 at 1:44 p.m. Amelia Davidson was training in the summer of 2021 in the reportage of The Sacramento Bee.
