Administrators explain reason for class on Easter Monday
Unlike high school students or even some college students in the region, University of South Dakota students were in class on Easter Monday, or April 6.
Jim Moran, USD provost and vice president for academic affairs, said classes are held on Easter Monday because it is not recognized as a religious holiday.
“There is this context of, ‘Is this a religious holiday or not?’” Moran said. “It’s not an official state holiday, and that is the biggest determiner.”
The university has a set number of days that students and teachers are expected to be in class, which also needs to be taken into consideration, Moran said.
“Some courses only meet one day a week. We already have a couple of Mondays off,” he said.
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“There’s also that framework of when we think about of getting in enough days for if a class meets only one day a week, how do we have enough class sessions so that everyone gets out at the same time.”
Paul Turman, vice president for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents, said the academic calendar across state colleges and universities is decided eight to 10 years ahead of time.
He said having class on Easter Monday allows for finals week to be a Monday-Friday schedule.
“Making an academic calendar is very difficult,” Turman said. “That’s why the board establishes a set of guiding principles. We do our best to follow those.”
Junior Jared Smith, a business management major, said he would prefer to have Easter Monday off rather than Good Friday.
“Everyone can spend Easter Sunday with their family and have a good lunch or dinner and then come back to school Monday afternoon or something,” Smith said. “That way you get to enjoy Easter and spend it at home rather than eat and have to hurry back to school.”
Erin Cornelsen, a certified public accountant and an instructor of accounting at USD, said she takes no sides on the university’s decision to have class on Easter Monday.
“I am neutral on whether the university should have classes on Easter Monday, as there are many religious holidays throughout the entire academic year, some which coincide with university holidays and some that do not,” she said.
