University of Virginia Library

Scheduling The Break

Our purpose here is not to rekindle any
long-cold controversies concerning the religious
character of this educational institution.
The University was founded as a secular
"academic community," and it would not be
its role to endorse any religious belief or
institution.

At the same time, however, it is not in the
spirit of the University's conception to serve
as an anti-religious force. For the last several
years, the spring vacation here has been
scheduled to fall either before or after the
Easter celebration, but never to include it.
The spring break is intended, according to a
member of the University's Calendar and
Scheduling Committee, to divide the session's
second semester as evenly as possible. Yet,
this vacation seems to have an uncanny knack
of missing the Easter celebration by one week,
be it before or after it. Surely, a few days
disparity between the semester's halves should
not prevent the release of students from
school at a time which is still largely
considered to be of special significance in the
home.

This year, the situation was made even
more incongruous by the mid-semester break
falling the very week before that in which
both Easter and Passover were celebrated.

While it is true that the University calendar
is made up two years before the session to
which it applies, it is not a difficult matter to
ascertain the dates of religious celebrations in
years of the near future. And members of the
calendar committee with whom we spoke
have expressed their concern with the spring
break not being scheduled to coincide with
the recent "holy week."

This is not to imply that the University's
calendar is drawn up with the intent of
discouraging religious- or family-oriented
activities, though it has, in fact, made such
participation difficult.

We hope that the Calendar and Scheduling
Committee will take note of this unnecessary
inconvenience of past years, when drawing up
the calendars of years to come.

S.M.L.