Now UC feels the heat

Students say Davis officials mismanaged graduation, cut short by high temperatures.

Days after UC Davis officials cut short an outdoor commencement ceremony amid excessive heat that sickened dozens of people, students say the university showed dangerous mismanagement, poor planning and a lack of accountability.

Several students reached out to The Times sharing concerns, including significant delays that pushed the June 10 ceremony into the heat of the day, a lack of water and a ban on shade umbrellas and outside drinks.

Radhika Gawde, the incoming president of the Associated Students of UC Davis, said she and other student government representatives have been compiling students’ concerns.

Heat in excess of the forecast may have been out of the university’s control, Gawde said, but communication with students and families has been lacking.

“If it’s held outdoors, I think that’s fine as long as adequate precautions are taken into account,” Gawde said. “All I ask for is communication, if I can be kept in the loop and other members of student government. We’re not asking for Taylor Swift [to speak]. We just

Caleb Hampton Davis Enterprise UC DAVIS graduates and their families faced 88- to 90-degree temperatures at their June 10 commencement, which ended early as dozens of people became ill.