Although students were able to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday officially for three hours Monday, the prospect of losing Reading Week study time put a small damper on the festivities.
University rules require at least nine weeks of class every quarter. This quarter started on a Wednesday, so classes will extend into Monday and Tuesday of what is usually Reading Week. And because classes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. were canceled in honor of the MLK holiday, the week lost another day. It will start Thursday, March 8 and end March 11.
“They should have programs, but people should just skip class for it, and it should be an excused absence,” said Jorge Fuentes, a Weinberg junior. “It shouldn’t cost us a day of Reading Week.”
Some students said they didn’t understand how a three-hour hiatus from classes translated into an entire day being cut from Reading Week.
“It makes no sense,” said Christyn FreeMonday, a Weinberg sophomore. “If we get three hours off, how does that affect six days? It’s not logical.”
But other students said they thought the loss of one studying day was well worth the chance to honor King.
“Not to be a school nerd, but (the academic year) is short enough,” said Emilia Carlson, a Speech junior. “If that’s what we have to do to celebrate, we might as well add an extra day (of classes).”
Sameer Gafoor, academic vice president of the Associated Student Government, said he plans to meet with administrators soon to discuss possible changes to the academic calendar or other ways of accommodating students’ study needs.
“This is something that students really did not know about until it was too late,” said Gafoor, a Weinberg junior. “Students depend on Reading Week so much. There should be discussion between students and administration.”
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences is the only school with an official Reading Week. Other schools schedule classes and even finals for that period.
Claire Wilmoth, a Music freshman, said she is not upset with the schedule change.
“It’s not really that big of a deal because it doesn’t impact Music that much,” she said.
And even for students who have an official Reading Week, the loss of one day is probably not the disaster some think it is, Alex Rosenfeld said.
“People will always want another day to study,” said Rosenfeld, a Music sophomore.
