If Kansas University’s basketball team wins two more basketball games in New Orleans this weekend, students shouldn’t expect any days off from class.
KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little sent a message to students, faculty and staff saying that classes will be held as scheduled if the Jayhawks win.
“Provost Jeff Vitter and I believe that our first mission as a university is to foster academic success and that is accomplished in part by setting high expectations for our students,” the message read. “A national title would be worthy of celebration, but we are confident those celebrations can take place without disrupting KU’s academic mission.”
The move is a break from previous chancellors — classes were canceled the day after KU won the title in 2008 and in 1988.
Comments
Scut Farkus 2 years ago
There are a lot of students who payed to attend those classes and either don't care about basketball or don't celebrate by getting so blasted they can't function the next day.
Teardrop 2 years ago
People are complaining about getting the cart before the horse, and they're right. (Maybe Danforth Chapel will be closed on Sunday.) However, some of the same people complaining the Chancellor has now jinxed the Jayhawks were wondering about campus plans for next Tuesday just yesterday in the office.
Barclay 2 years ago
Hats off to the chancellor. Students will make their own choices, but nonetheless, very irresponsible to cancel classes. Thank you Chancellor Little. Absolutetly love sports and will be glued to the TV if we are playing, but very dumb to cancel classes.
birdsandflowers 2 years ago
Come on now. There were no snow closings this school year. Surely, chancellor, you can afford to give 'em a day to enjoy the ride.
Christine Anderson 2 years ago
Granted, it's been a good while since I was a student, but occ. a prof would cancel a class for last-minute personal illness. That could easily be contracted from celebrating, if KU wins. 1988? Yeah, that was glorious. Pizza Shuttle was in the parking lot by Robinson and Allen Fieldhouse passing out free pizzas!
gsxr600 2 years ago
In other news, Danny Manning is leaving to coach Tulsa
rgh 2 years ago
There will be a few difficult professors who despise athletics and will punish kids for not showing up for class if it happens. However, for most profs and students will have some sort of illness Tuesday and rightfully so.
toe 2 years ago
Most of the students cannot do the work anyway. Why not give them something they can do? Party on!
irvan moore 2 years ago
i bet the g stands for grinch
parrothead8 2 years ago
Back in my day, we'd party all night and still make it to class. We took pride in burning the candle at both ends and still getting good grades. Current students must be lightweights.
tanaumaga 2 years ago
eggs before they hatch
Jean Robart 2 years ago
They've said that before, and each time have cancelled classes to allow celebrating the national championship. Dr Hemenway said that he definitely would no cancel classes in 2008--and cancelled them anyway.
irvan moore 2 years ago
bgl who
The_Original_Bob 2 years ago
"kujhawkfan (anonymous) replies… KU lost to Arizona in 1997, not 1998. As bad as they played, they still were able to get off 3 three-point attempts on the last possession for a chance to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, they all missed and the most dominating team in KU history lost by 3 points. Their only loss of the entire regular season was a 2 point double overtime game at MU. Amazing to think that team was only beaten twice by a combined total of 5 points.."
Yep. You are correct. I was done at KU in 1997. Wrong team. I haven't had a spring break since 1997.
whats_going_on 2 years ago
Now, the real question is...are the professors allowed to cancel class? I'd put money on a lot of them being canceled...why would a prof come to class when most, if not all of the students are not there?
And then who is going to be the d*ck prof who schedules a test?
fu7il3 2 years ago
Everyone is responsible for their own responsibilities. I have to go to work the next day, as do most people. If others choose to take the day off or call in sick, that is their business. Same with the students. It shouldn't be the university's responsibility to cover for their lack of responsibility.
Erin England 2 years ago
I think Bernadette can make whatever decisions she wants. Whether the students follow them is another matter. Like someone else said, classes will be fairly empty IF we win the championship.
naturalist 2 years ago
gosh everyone is really getting ahead of themselves here. KU has two games to win first.
ranger73 2 years ago
I think we should worry about winning on SATURDAY first??? Point is moot if OSU wins.
tltjk 2 years ago
Wow! I'm glad she's not trying to win a popularity contest. Winning a championship doesn't happen very often. I think she's forgetting that these students are adults like her. No one is going to flunk out of KU because they cancelled classes for one day. Academics alone will not make a well rounded function adult in society.
lawrence267 2 years ago
That's what Bob said for years, and then he canceled class anyway
gconfo 2 years ago
She's just pissed because KU beat North Carolina.
KUMFL 2 years ago
Haha that's great kufan1156! So true... Just cancel... No ones gonna go anyways!
kufan1146 2 years ago
Saw a scathing tweet, and a good point from @kuamber:
"#KU won't give students a day off for #KUbball since academics come first, yet they have to park elsewhere for classes on game nights."
aria92 2 years ago
Come on Berny, learn to live a little.
Laura Wilson 2 years ago
That's sad. I don't know what happened in 2008 but in 1988 there was a huge rally for the returning team in Memorial Stadium in the afternoon the day after. No classes made it easy for celebration to continue all day.
I'm guessing most people won't show up at class if there is a rally somewhere anyway (or if they're too hungover or exhausted from celebrating all night), so why not cancel? Sports are important to KU and the college atmosphere in general. That's not going away, chancellor.
The_Original_Bob 2 years ago
Reminds me of '98. Students didn't go on Spring Break because they wanted to party in Lawrence after KU went to the Final 4. Whoops. I was at Lake Fork, Texas watching Miles Simon make a fool out of us.
Clickker 2 years ago
What about the Lawrence School District, USD 497? Have they announced?
Matthew Herbert 2 years ago
sort of like how a High School principal will tell the seniors that there is to be no "senior skip day". Then, magically, on a Friday in the middle of May, about 12 seniors show up total.
Bunny_Hotcakes 2 years ago
http://sadtrombone.com/
gsxr600 2 years ago
Even professors are already telling their students not to come to class on Tuesday if we win. She can't exactly mandate that students show up either. If we won, my guess would be maybe ~15% of students would show up to class the next day. Nothing productive would occur and it would be a waste of students and faculty time because they would have to re-teach it in the next class meeting for those that didn't come.
What a dumb***.
jmm35 2 years ago
Who cares? These students are all adults. They can choose how to spend their day regardless of what the Chancellor says.
somedude20 2 years ago
Students are one of the few consumers who do not want the product of which they purchased (well, that their parents/tax payers paid for)
Smells like a bigfoot has been here!
cowgirljayhawk 2 years ago
Where's the Jayhawk spirit in that? What happened to the fun tradition?
Oh well, students will just skip class anyway...
gatekeeper 2 years ago
Well, they'll just have mainly empty classes then.
stlcards515 2 years ago
More like Buzzkill Bernie
booklover2 2 years ago
Man, what a Debbie Downer.
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