The UC Davis community will kick off the new academic year with Fall Convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 29, during which Provost Larry Vanderhoef will talk about the state of the campus and plans for the upcoming year. The hourlong 11 a.m. program in Freeborn Hall will also feature poems and comments by Gary Snyder, professor of English and a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. "This is a new event for UC Davis," said Robert Grey, interim executive vice chancellor. "But these are unusual and difficult times, and it is especially important that we all understand the tasks and the opportunities that lie ahead."