Rumors of administration moving more classes to Friday morning to curb Thursday night drinking have been circulating around campus for weeks. Is there truth behind the speculation? Do we think this solution would keep students in bed early on Thursday nights? Or will students still go out on Thursdays and simply have more absences or more hangover hoodie slumps in the back of class? Regardless of this rumored policy and the possible pros and cons, it is true that St. Lawrence has an active drinking culture, and providing students with alternate, non-alcohol-based events is a worthwhile endeavor.
The Hill News reached out to President Kate Morris for a statement on the Friday morning class policy, but she referred all questions to Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Deans Karl Schonberg and Vice President and Dean of Student Life Hagi Bradley. Schonberg urges students to think about this initiative not as redistributing Wednesday classes to another day. Rather, the goal is focused on “increasing student access to seats in classes by spreading out the total number of classes being offered more evenly across the weekly schedule, which means having more on Friday.” Is a more evenly distributed schedule with more Friday classes something the student body wants?
One student group who would suffer from a more evenly distributed class schedule via increased Friday classes are athletes who are in season. “On Thursdays we leave around noon, and we email our professors every week to let them know we can’t attend our Friday classes,” said Sammie Nolan ‘24, a Nordic skier, said. “Having the flexibility of a four-day week makes all of us less stressed. Including our coaches,” she continued. Vivian Zymeck ‘23 is another student athlete. “If I had Friday classes as a volleyball player, I would have to ruin my perfect attendance,” said Zymeck.
Vice President and Dean of Student Life Hagi Bradley has been working with the Wellness Education program to “ramp up efforts to provide fun weekend activities on Friday and Saturday nights that don’t involve drinking.” Hagi also wants to make clear that these events aren’t only for students who don’t drink and go out. These events, which include things like a disco themed roller rink, mini golf, comedy nights and open mics, are just fun. Maybe these events can be “a good opportunity to do something fun without alcohol before they go out, and hopefully drink less over the course of the evening,” said Bradley.
Whether you drink and enjoy going out here at St. Lawrence, providing underage students and non-party goers with sober fun should be encouraged. The administration has stated that their Friday morning class policy is not intended to punish students for going out Thursday nights. This is good because students have expressed that they will still go out. “Friday morning classes don’t stop me from going out Thursdays,” said Phoebe Boardman ‘23. “I go out anyways, and just show up to class tired,” she continued. In sum, abstinence is not birth control, prohibition didn’t work, and people usually do as they please. If you’d like to stay up to date on the programming being done by Hagi’s office and the Wellness program, stay tuned for their emails and invite your friends to some fun sober activities.