UC Davis abruptly didn’t finish its outdoor graduation commencement on Friday after multiple local agencies, including the fire department, urged the university to stop the ceremony. Some 12,500 students and families were baking in scorching heat without easy access to shade, officials said.
Students on Twitter reported that people with heat-related illnesses were taken away in ambulances at Health Stadium and the university said 34 calls were made for medical-related service and five people were transported to area hospitals during the commencement. (The UC Davis Fire Department didn’t immediately respond to a request to confirm how many of those calls were heat-related.)
“To see how @ucdavis handled today’s graduation is bulls—” wrote @tanyacasas_. “Watching people getting taken by ambulance left and right while others leave bc they are on the verge of passing out from heat stroke. This Is a joke.”
The event, the first of three undergraduate ceremonies, started at 8 a.m. to take advantage of cooler morning temperatures. After three hours many students had yet to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. The university announced just after 11 a.m. it was stopping the ceremony based on health and public safety concerns due to heat.
Ashley Hicks, who attended the ceremony, said she was confused by the university’s planning. “It was allotted to between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and the procession of students entering into their seats didn’t end until 9:30 a.m. An hour and a half of the time was taken up by the procession.”
Hicks said she also didn’t understand why the university didn’t plan to move the ceremony indoors at the UCenter, the site of many past graduations, knowing that Friday was expected to be hot.
The heat was no surprise as earlier this week the National Weather Service began warning of dangerously high temperatures on Friday. “We are expecting temperatures in the Davis area up to 105 today potentially 106,” Sierra Littlefield, a meteorologist with the weather service, told SFGATE at noon Friday. “Excessive heat warning is in effect that covers the Davis area.”
Littlefield explained that an excessive heat warning means anyone can be impacted by the heat by staying outdoors for an extended period of time. “Anytime there is heat like this, we’re advising people to avoid staying outdoors for extended periods of time during the hottest periods of the day.”
By noon on Friday some gauges on the UC Davis campus were reporting temperatures up to 94 degrees, with the mercury rising, Littlefield said.
Many parents and family members expressed their concern on social media. “As a concerned parent, few weeks ago tweeted about bad choice having an outdoor event in CA heat,” @4katluvrs said in a tweet. “This should have been an indoor event like the past years. Split it into am & pm events.”
“The @ucdavis graduation today was an experience,” @cchavisd12 said. “I flew cross country to see my sister in law graduate and she didn’t walk. I’m not sure who decided that an outdoor graduation in June was a good idea here…”
“UC Davis cancelled our graduation!! We were not allowed to walk the stage and told us to go home!!” @JoonKookStyless wrote. “Over 2k students could not walk the stage. This was poor planning from the school and we demand a proper explanation from the school board!!”
The University said in an email to SFGATE that it provided fans and misters, cooling stations and cooling buses. Participants were also offered the ability to view the ceremony on a live stream at the University Credit Union. Student SFGATE spoke to said there was no shade and the university ran of water, adding that students and families weren’t allowed to bring in their own drinks.
“We deeply regret that some students did not get a chance to walk across the stage,” the university said in a statement posted online. “Chancellor Gary S. May and Provost Mary Croughan invite any of those students who did not get to walk to return with their families for a separate ceremony this Sunday. We appreciate your understanding and know this has been frustrating.”
This is a developing story and details will be added as they become available.
