To the UC Davis Community:

As we celebrate the holiday season, I am reminded of the powerful role service plays in our lives. 

Service has been at the heart of UC Davis since its inception. As a land-grant university, we serve the people of California, the United States and the world. From the beginning, UC Davis was founded on the idea that education transforms the lives of our students while helping to create a better world.

That commitment is more than our origin story. Service is a vital part of the fabric of our university today. It is woven into our mission to ensure that our research helps produce a more just, equitable, and healthier world and our bedrock commitment to building social mobility for students from every background.

Last month, Aggie athletes brightened the spirits of patients at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. Led by Kayla Wolfe, a fourth-year managerial economics major and president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, these students crafted blankets for children undergoing medical treatment. Wolfe notes that being a supportive part of the community is ingrained in the entire UC Davis Athletics program, and she looks forward to participating in future community service events.

Every day, across the UC Davis campus, students offer the powerful gift of their service to communities and those in need. They are engaging in community service at a remarkable rate. In 2022, 12,431 undergraduate students contributed more than 2 million hours of community service in projects across our campus and community.

LeShelle and I were part of this spirit of giving back on a recent morning. We joined members of Lambda Omicron Xi, a community service-oriented sorority, to help with weeding, harvesting and planting at Grace Garden in Davis. Seeing our students lend a hand in service is one of the most gratifying parts of my job.

Making a difference

Princeton Review ranks UC Davis No.7 among public universities for “making a difference,” measuring our commitment to building a better tomorrow through community service opportunities, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus student engagement. 

At UC Davis, we build researchers and artists. We empower entrepreneurs and educators. But most of all, we forge leaders ready to tackle the challenges we share with passion and the spirit of servant leadership.

These leaders are making a difference here in Davis and across the world. They’re lending a hand to those in need, amplifying the voices of those who too often go unheard, and building opportunities for people who have been left behind.

Building a healthier future

This year, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Clínica Tepati, one of UC Davis’ longest-running student-run clinics. Established in 1974 by students and physicians, Clínica Tepati provides free health care, education and advocacy for anybody who needs it, with a longtime focus on Latino patients. Over the years, thousands of undergraduate and medical students have donned scrubs and volunteered at the clinic, which operates Saturday mornings in a WellSpace Health community clinic in Midtown Sacramento. 

Natalie Chrisman, a fourth-year biological sciences major, describes the transformative power of her experience volunteering at Clínica Tepati, noting that working alongside medical students and doctors gives her the confidence to pursue her dreams after graduation. As an undergraduate, she participates in every step of client service — including patient intake in Spanish and English, recording vital statistics and assisting in the labs. She’s especially proud that the clinic makes health care available to traditionally underserved people and is happy to give back to her community.

The Mercer Veterinary Clinic and its Davis satellite, Davis Pet Advocacy and Wellness, provide care and compassion for the pets of individuals experiencing homelessness. Since 1992, the clinic has brought veterinary students together, working in teams with veterinarians to provide a full range of free, compassionate veterinary care ranging from vaccinations to surgeries. On Saturday (Dec. 14), the Mercer Clinic will distribute its annual holiday pet baskets filled with toys and treats.

Hannah Hsieh Rogers, a UC Davis graduate and second-year student at the School of Veterinary Medicine, says that working for the Mercer Clinic has been one of the most powerful experiences in her time as a student. She’s not only getting hands-on experience in the full spectrum of animal care and client interaction, but she is building community. She notes that each of us can contribute and that we strengthen our humanity in each act of service when we offer those gifts.

Creating change in our communities

Much as research supercharges our students’ classroom experiences, service in the community builds on classroom learning about subjects like sustainability and justice. Service empowers students with firsthand experiences that will drive them forward as advocates and activists capable of improving their communities and the lives of those who live in them.

In its third year, the College Corps program connects students from low-income backgrounds with service opportunities across our community. In its second cohort, which ended last spring, the 311 consortium fellows from UC Davis, Sacramento State and Sacramento City College contributed 124,646 service hours with regional community host partners. Their efforts included tutoring secondary school students, mentoring, engaging community members in climate-related outreach and education and distributing over 329,177 pounds of food to those in need. 

Daniela Delgadillo-Arroyo, a third-year psychology major, has spent three years in the College Corps Fellows program, where she has worked in programs across Yolo County. She worked in K-12 school programs as a mentor fighting educational disparities and currently leads classes in Spanish and English for the CommuniCare+OLE’s Food is Medicine program. She says that helping newly diagnosed diabetes patients with culturally sensitive diets is a form of mutual healing for those who receive the service and those who can give.

Andrea Serna, Sarah Samano and Sarah Maranta, all fourth-year environmental science and management majors, see their work as more than enhancing the UC Davis campus. They are leaving a legacy, whether that means facilitating community understanding about the importance of trees or developing strategies for climate resilience that extend beyond the UC Davis campus to the world.

They are part of the Arboretum and Public Garden's award-winning Learning by Leading program, which engages over 100 students annually in hands-on environmental leadership projects. Through this program, students not only contribute to impactful projects but also earn academic credit for their efforts. This year, they collectively dedicated 14,760 hours to initiatives ranging from propagating regionally appropriate plants for the public to helping transform the Arboretum Waterway. Their dedication exemplifies our university's commitment to sustainability and leadership that makes a lasting impact.

Leading the way forward

Our students engaged in community service are developing teamwork and leadership skills that will serve them well after graduation. They’re building critical thinking and collaborative skills in high demand in the workplace.

Across our campuses and the world outside them, our students are weaving community one act of service at a time. They remind us that in tumultuous and polarized times, we must strengthen the threads that bind us together and that we are at our strongest when we prioritize the well-being of our entire community.

Andrea Solis Olguin, a fourth-year civil engineering major, says that as an engineer, she believes in applying leverage and examining every avenue for political change. Thinking both about her younger self and the 250,000 documented Dreamers — children brought to the United States legally, with dependent visas — who face significant hurdles in their education and the risk of being forced to leave the country when they age out of Dreamer status at 21 years old, she has advocated at the state and federal level for reforms that make it possible for them to stay and contribute. Working with Improve the Dream, she has lobbied members of Congress and the California State Assembly to make it possible for fellow documented Dreamers to have a path to citizenship. 

Students in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have two unique programs for student service, an annual spring break service trip and a quarterly service class. Since their inception in 2017, students have served across the region at locations like the Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary, coastal cleanup at Bodega Bay, trail cleanup at Yosemite National Park and at a café for unhoused people in Fresno. 

For the last two years, Brooke Hare has coordinated the service classes and spring break service trips for the college. She has observed how the program helps students build a sense of community and critical organizational and communication skills. The third-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major credits her time in the program with helping her develop job skills, from resume preparation to networking. 

Strengthening our connection to each other

These students — and so many others across our campuses — are strengthening the fabric of our communities. One thread at a time, they are helping to heal the world and reminding us we are at our best when we serve. 

They are living the advice of the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, who wrote: “We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”

When we reach a hand to lift a neighbor up, we establish connections that can last a lifetime. When we serve our communities, we are less inclined to see what separates us and more willing to see what unites us.

As I often say, the best measure of success is how we enhance the lives of others.  As we end one year and look forward to the beginning of the next, Aggies, I encourage you all to find an opportunity to serve. The benefits to our campus, our community and yourselves will be immeasurable.

From my family to yours, I wish you happy holidays and a healthy and peaceful new year.

Sincerely,

Gary S. May
Chancellor