Business students finally finish reading ‘The Cat in the Hat’
Business students at UC Davis have finished their reading requirement
By SABRINA FIGUEROA — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu
On March 20, 2026, business students at UC Davis finally finished reading “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Suess. Every year, business majors are tasked with reading a challenging children’s book over the span of the fall and winter quarters. During the spring quarter, business majors are given the full 10 weeks to complete a two-page paper outlining why they believe the stories are important to their field and future careers.
In past years, students have read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss and more.
“The hardest part about this [assignment] is that you don’t have a lot of time to complete it,” Willie Makeit, a fourth-year business major, said. “I don’t even know what ‘The Cat in the Hat’ has to do with business. I just don’t know, man, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Although some students have had a tough time with the requirement, others share the opposite sentiment. Bim Geisel, a third-year business major, and Ben Geisel, a third-year business major — twins with matching blue hair — share that they appreciate the book’s chaos.
“Bim and Ben appreciate good fun that is funny,” they said in unison.
To celebrate the achievements of business students, UC Davis is throwing a celebration at the end of the year. Inspired by Dr. Seuss himself, the theme will be “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” The event will also end with a showing of “The Cat in the Hat” (2003) movie.
“We are very proud of our business students and we are determined to celebrate this achievement the best that we can,” UC Davis Chancellor Gary May said. “We believe that the theme will be a great way to send off seniors, too. If they can complete this rigorous assignment, they can achieve anything.”
While all seems well on the surface, some students have set out to turn a profit writing these essays for their peers.
“I’ve been through a million classes that teach me multiple economic principles to be a great entrepreneur and businessperson, why would I not use that knowledge?” a business student, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of dismissal, said. "When life gives you lemons, y’know?”
When May was asked about these essay-writing businesses, he assured The California Aggie that all “students who write the [reading assignment’s] essays for their peers will be dismissed if they are found out.”
May asked The Aggie the names of students, but The Aggie does not burn sources.
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Written by: Sabrina Figueroa — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu