PICNIC DAY RETURNS THIS NEXT WEEKEND
The 107th open house will feature over 100 virtual activities
One year after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 106th UC Davis Picnic Day and left organizers scrambling to adjust the event for a virtual format, the university is preparing to host a fully virtual version of the annual event.
The theme for the 107th Picnic Day — which will take place Saturday — is “Discovering Silver Linings.”
“We selected ‘Discovering Silver Linings’ because, despite all that has happened this year, the UC Davis community has continued to find silver linings everywhere,” stated Picnic Day Chair Caitlyn Liu in January when the theme was announced. “Our campus is on a relentless pursuit to inspire hope and work toward a better and brighter tomorrow. With a virtual Picnic Day, current, prospective and past Aggies, as well as Davis community members can attend Picnic Day no matter how near or far they are. I think that in itself is a silver lining.”
The event schedule was released Tuesday and features a number of live events and prerecorded videos.
Ahead of Picnic Day, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association will be showing a trailer for a Doxie Derby “mockumentary,” along with a virtual tasting of Sudwerk Brewing Co.’s Doggy Daze West Coast IPA and Gunrock Hazy IPA from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The beers can be purchased at Sudwerk Dock Store, at 2001 Second St., in Davis. Both Sudwerk and Woodstock’s pizza will be running fundraisers to support veterinary students. Registration can be made for this event at https://alumni.ucdavis.edu/events/doxies-and-brews.
Additionally, the Fashion and Design Society’s fashion show will be streamed live on Twitch on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The show, titled “Uncharted,” will highlight designs from the university’s “Signature Collections
Course.” For access to the stream, visit arts.ucdavis.edu/ event/uncharted-fads-fashionshow.
Saturday’s festivities kick off with a Picnic Day pancake breakfast, a virtual twist on the regular tradition. Guests will be able to watch cooking demonstrations and receive tips on how to make the best pancakes. An ingredients list can be found at alumni.ucdavis.edu/events/ picnic-day-pancake-breakfast.
“You’ll be making your own pancakes, but you’ll have the company of hundreds of your fellow Aggies and others,” a statement from UC Davis Dateline explained.
There are over 100 events in addition to the pancake breakfast — including games for kids and science trivia at the Children’s Discovery Fair, multiple musical performances and a virtual tour of a coffee lab.
The marshals for the day will be UC Davis faculty members Maisha and Lawrence Torry Winn. They are co-directors and co-founders of the Transformative Justice in Education Center in the UC Davis School of Education. Maisha Winn is a professor and associate dean in the School of Education, and Lawrence Winn is an assistant professor of teaching.
They each received a Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community in 2019 for their work with the center — which seeks to serve practitioners and researchers committed to disrupting social injustices in educations by creating teaching and learning communities that are restorative, humanizing and justice-seeking.
“The prompt we like to pose in our restorative justice circles is ‘if the pandemic is a portal, I am moving away from and I am moving toward ,” their statement in the Picnic Day Schedule of Events explains. “In considering the 2021 Picnic Day theme — Discovering Silver Linings — we would like to make the declaration ‘we are moving away from
survival mode and moving toward finding ways to thrive.’ We look forward to thriving with our UC Davis community as we navigate
a safe return to campus.”
UC Davis Give Day, a program that has been a part of Picnic Day for five years starts Friday at 5 p.m. and will continue throughout Saturday. Information on Give Day can be found at giveday.ucdavis.edu.
Gatherings will not be allowed
on the UC Davis campus for Picnic Day, aside from a few exceptions. The Dateline statement noted that student’s in Yolo County are still under the orange tier guidelines. Outdoor gatherings can be held with a maximum attendance of 50 people and social distancing. Indoor
gatherings are strongly discouraged but can be held at a max 25% capacity or 25 people — whichever is fewer. Social distancing is still required.
The full event schedule for Picnic Day and the event links can be found at picnicday.ucdavis.edu.