University Council assembled 

Monday night to discuss the 
University 
of 
Michigan’s 

academic calendar and Election 
Day.

The meeting started with 

a 
presentation 
from 
Sarah 

Daniels, 
associate 
dean 
of 

students, Lisa Emery, senior 
associate 
registrar, 
and 

Christine 
Gerdes, 
special 

counsel to the provost. They 
spoke about the possibility 
of 
starting 
the 
2020-2021 

academic year before Labor 

Day. Without this revision, the 
last day of the fall semester 
could be as late as Dec. 24, 2020, 
creating travel difficulties as 
students scramble to get home 
before Christmas.

The 
conversation 
then 

turned to whether it would 
be better to have a longer Fall 
Break or a longer Thanksgiving 
Break. Daniels asked the group 
about their uses of Fall Break. 
Public Policy senior Sammi 
Lawrence, representative for 
the Ford School of Public Policy, 
spoke about how especially 
as a freshman, Fall Break was 
incredibly important.

“Thinking back to when I 

was a freshman, that natural 
break in the middle, where 
everything is so hectic: starting 
new classes, new environment, 
massive school … To have just 
a couple days was incredibly 
beneficial,” Lawrence said. 

For 
freshman 
and 

upperclassmen alike, Fall Break 
is vital for students’ mental 
health. CSG Vice President 
Nadine Jawad, a Public Policy 
senior, emphasized this point.

“There is an extra push during 

those two days for students to 
take care of themselves,” Jawad 
said. 

Business senior Grace Nasr, 

representative for the Ross 

School of Business, and 
Rackham student Kirstie 
Hostetter, representative for 
the School for Environment 
and 
Sustainability, 
also 

noted the importance of 
Fall Break from a career 
standpoint, as both schools 
utilize those two extra days 
to find internships and use 
them as a career check.

Daniels 
ended 
the 

presentation by highlighting 
the fight to fit everything 
into the calendar.

“It’s all part of one big 

puzzle,” Daniels said. “We 
are not in a place where 
it’s a kind of ‘We’ll give you 
this if we get this’ situation. 
It’s not that give and take 
per se, it’s kind of all these 
things are on the table … 
It’s (seeing) how we can 
fit the pieces together so 
that it fits the needs of all 
constituents.” 

The 
second 
half 
of 

the meeting focused on 
Election Day, with Law 
School student Tom Allen, a 
representative for Promote 
the Vote. The Fall Break 

debate was revisited, since it 
had been previously noted that 
Election Day should potentially 
be a day off, instead of one of 
the two Fall Break days. Allen 
 

noted the “pathetically low 
voter turnout” among the age 
group 
composed 
of 
college 

students.

The Council came to the 

consensus this low turnout was 
largely due to the three-hour 
wait at the Michigan Union 
or other local voting centers, 
which interferes with classes 
for students and professors 
alike.

Allen said students are often 

put in a situation where they are 
“deciding between going to class 
or waiting in line.” Allen further 
spoke about other reforms to 
Michigan election laws, which 
he noted are some of the most 
restrictive in the country.

“Students, for their first time 

voting, have to be in person,” 
Allen 
said. 
“This 
revision 

would allow anybody to get an 
absentee ballot for any reason, 
even if it’s just that you are 
working all day and don’t have 
time to get to the polls. It’s all 
sort of common sense reform 
… To make it as easy as possible 
for everyone to vote.

University Council meets with admin 
to discuss future calendar changes

Body of student governments also lobbies to cancel classes on Election Day

2 — Tuesday, March 20, 2018
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There is an extra 
push during those 

two days for 

students to take 

care of themselves

