SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Several people were taken a hospital and others were treated for heat-related illnesses as a UC Davis commencement ceremony was held amid sweltering heat on Friday.
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"The heat got the best of us," UC Davis News and Media Relations Specialist Julia Ann Easley told KCBS Radio. The ceremony, which started shortly after 8 a.m. at UC Davis Health Stadium, was called off at about 11:20 a.m. "out of concern for health and safety."
In all, the UC Davis Fire Department responded to 36 heat-related calls for service. Six people were taken to nearby hospitals.
"We disappointed some of our graduates and some of our guests, but the health and safety were really the primary concern in doing that," Easley explained in a phone interview.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Hannah Chandler-Cooley said temperatures measured at the University Airport – situated just over two miles away – came in at 79 degrees at 8 a.m. By 11:20 a.m., it was 90 degrees.
That reading spiked to a scorching 100 degrees by mid-afternoon.
The commencement is one of 10 the school does in its spring season and the first time it was held outdoors. Graduates – an estimated 2,300 in all – were wearing blue gowns and mortar boards. About 850 of them made it across the stage before officials called the graduation off.
"We had a team that was monitoring the event including the heat conditions," Easley said.
A separate ceremony will be held on Sunday for the graduates who weren't able to walk the stage, but "are still being discussed," she said. The UC Davis Health Stadium holds about 12,000 people and has little shade by mid-morning. Easley said most of the facility was filled.
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