From the Dean

Winter quarter is rolling right along. In fact, we’re somehow already in the second month of what still feels like an hours-old year. That’s the sign of having been busy. On campus, students are all around us. Our faculty are teaching, publishing and mentoring, and in the Dean’s Office we’ve been hard at work on several notable things.

My final note of last year also started with the weather, but what astonishing weather we’ve had here in Northern California.

Winter doesn’t begin officially until later this month, but there was ice on the cars (and roofs!) this morning. Being from Philadelphia, ice in December isn’t something all that unusual to me, but here in our region of California it’s always a bit of a surprise. With finals behind us, and the end of the year just around the corner, things are slowing down on campus.

November is here and winter is closer. The weather has gotten cooler, and the nights start earlier, but campus is active, and our students are halfway through the fall quarter. Especially after the pandemic years, there’s something revitalizing about having our students on campus. Whether they’re studying for an exam on the couches in the Green Hall lobby or having a discussion section in the courtyard, their presence is always welcome.

Summer never feels quite as long as it looks on the calendar. Those days and weeks pass quickly and, before we know it, we're back on campus. Even so, it's always a great pleasure to see our campus come to life again when students return. They bring such vibrancy to our community. For those in Davis over the summer, there were certainly some high temperatures to weather - 110F+ for several days! - but weather them we did.

We often say that our students have weathered not just an unconventional two years but an unconventional college career. And it’s true. The class of 2022 has persevered through a truly unconventional and challenging time, and they’ve come out the other side having completed a remarkable feat.

There are many reasons to take pride in being an Aggie, and perhaps the most significant is when we get to see students who have spent the last four years in the lab, the classroom and the field take their well-deserved bow and cross the graduation stage.

Less than a week ago I was in the University Credit Union Center for the Dean’s Circle Undergraduate Research Conference. In the image above, you can see what a success the event was. Over 200 CBS undergraduates attended the conference and shared their research posters with peers, visitors and CBS faculty. And each student received a certificate in recognition of their hard work. My congratulations to all of them.

April is a month of traditions here at UC Davis. First and foremost, our campus’s longest-running annual event returns this year. That’s right, Picnic Day is now 108 years old. There will be a variety of activities, as there always are, and while some of the details are still in the final stages of planning and preparation, you can find more information on the picnic day website.

There’s always something to celebrate at UC Davis. You’ve now seen stories about our successful return to campus, and the decreasing prevalence of the Omicron variant. We’ve also just seen record numbers of student applications, which speaks to the deep passion of so many young people who want to further their educations at UC Davis.

As Black History Month draws to a close, we celebrate and reflect on the many outstanding achievements and contributions Black Americans have made to our state, our nation and to the world at large.

“Throughout UC’s history, Black alumni, faculty and students have been integral to our excellence, making pioneering advances in science, medicine, the humanities, the law and other fields,” said Michael Drake, president of the University of California.