Each year, the start of the holidays seems to get here earlier and earlier. This year is no different. It feels like just yesterday (or maybe last week) that we welcomed 6,400 CBS students back to campus for the start of fall quarter. And now, here we are—it’s time to wish them luck on their finals, and then send them back to their friends and loved ones for a well-deserved break.

Well, it’s fall. And November. Campus is busy this time of year - bikes on the streets, classrooms full and labs bustling with activity. Our students are in midterms, and we’re starting to feel winter in the air. 

Chancellor Gary S. May issued the following statement on Tuesday, October 10, 2023.

To the Aggie Community:

Our community is reeling and in pain from the terror and escalating violence we are witnessing in Israel and in the Gaza Strip. Especially horrific is the use of hostages and the great losses of both Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives. We stand in support of our Jewish and Muslim communities. We deeply mourn this catastrophic loss of life and the destruction of many families and futures.

Fall arrived just a few weeks ago. Summer felt longer this year than it really was, but that’s how things go when there’s so much activity. Since June, the college has welcomed a new associate dean of research and was proud to welcome back an alum as the new director of the UC Davis Genome Center.

Dan Starr, a cell biologist and professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has been named the new Associate Dean of Research for the College of Biological Sciences. He will step into the role on October 1, 2023.

“I see this position as an opportunity to encourage my colleagues to branch out and expand into new research areas,” said Starr. “Our research portfolio at CBS is already very strong. My goal is to build on our successes and to support future growth in our research programs.”

Blake Meyers, a principal investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and a professor of plant sciences from the University of Missouri - Columbia, has been named the new director and Novozymes Chair in Genomics at the UC Davis Genome Center. Meyers, who studies plant RNA biology, bioinformatics and functional genomics, will step into the role on March 1, 2024.

In track and field, the “staggered start” is a mechanism used to account for the fact that runners in the outer lanes of the track have a longer distance to run than those in the inner lanes. Like the staggered start, affirmative action is intended to account for historical inequities experienced by marginalized communities in higher education and other endeavors. Today, the Supreme Court has decided that this tool is no longer appropriate.

It’s that time of year again. Campus is quiet. There are only a few bicycles on the streets. The halls and classrooms are empty. But it’s a joyous time. The class of 2023 has crossed the commencement stage and is embarking on the next stage of life, which is sure to be successful.

This week saw rain here in Davis. After a week of 90-degree heat, we’d gotten used to summer feeling closer. Seasons seem to last only a few days at a time now. It’s more like winter again, and though campus is on alert because of recent events in our community, I am glad to say that our spring quarter has seen many notable achievements.

We are in the final quarter of this academic year, which started at the beginning of this month. I know we’ve all said it ourselves in our own ways, but it really does amaze me how quickly the time passes. It feels like just a few weeks ago we were welcoming a new year and beginning the winter quarter. Now here we are, and it’s spring already.