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
booklover2 4 years, 6 months ago
Man, what a Debbie Downer.
Jeff Kilgore 4 years, 6 months ago
Just doing her job. The kids won't go anyway.
stlcards515 4 years, 6 months ago
More like Buzzkill Bernie
gatekeeper 4 years, 6 months ago
Well, they'll just have mainly empty classes then.
cowgirljayhawk 4 years, 6 months ago
Where's the Jayhawk spirit in that? What happened to the fun tradition?
Oh well, students will just skip class anyway...
somedude20 4 years, 6 months 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!
yourworstnightmare 4 years, 6 months ago
They want the product. They just don't want to work for it.
somedude20 4 years, 6 months ago
the product is the work and knowledge that they are paying for. They are paying to do work, write papers and take tests that will lead to a very expensive piece of bigger paper (diploma).
justoneperson 4 years, 6 months ago
to you the product is knowledge. to many of them, the product is the diploma/credential....
jmm35 4 years, 6 months ago
Who cares? These students are all adults. They can choose how to spend their day regardless of what the Chancellor says.
gsxr600 4 years, 6 months 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***.
Erin England 4 years, 6 months ago
Professors will not "re-teach." If you're not there, then you missed the lesson. You, as student, are responsible for getting the materials. At least, the majority of my professors at KU had that outlook.
gsxr600 4 years, 6 months ago
Not sure when you went to college but these days if enough people complain something wasn't covered or they don't understand it because they were absent the professor will more than likely re-teach it. That's just how it is these days.
But, this is a special circumstance so if we win, professors are going to cut the kids some slack.
stlcards515 4 years, 6 months ago
As someone who graduated last year, I would say Englande is right. If there's material that was covered and you missed class they aren't going use class time to go over it again. They may tell you where to look it up in the book. In my four years I think I had maybe three classes that actually took a day out of the schedule to review for a test.
impska 4 years, 6 months ago
If professors follow your philosophy, they will simply cancel the class. As you mentioned, some professors are already preparing to cancel classes.
Any professor who feels that a sports game is not sufficient reason to cancel class will simply not cancel class. And then they will not reteach. Simply by holding the class as scheduled, they are broadcasting their intent not to "cut some slack."
Bunny_Hotcakes 4 years, 6 months ago
http://sadtrombone.com/
somedude20 4 years, 6 months ago
Rusty Trombone by DadsGarageTV
I see you post and raise you with this ^
Matthew Herbert 4 years, 6 months 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.
Clickker 4 years, 6 months ago
What about the Lawrence School District, USD 497? Have they announced?
mom_of_three 4 years, 6 months ago
The school district doesn't typically cancel, but there were lots of kids gone that Tuesday afternoon.
kujhawkfan 4 years, 6 months ago
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...
TopJayhawk 4 years, 6 months ago
and Jarrod Haase had a bum wrist. Congratulations to him on his new job by the way.
Laura Wilson 4 years, 6 months 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.
gphawk89 4 years, 6 months ago
Correct about 1988. After having stayed up until at 3am celebrating that win on the boulevard I doubt too many would have made it to morning classes the next day anyway. I barely made it to the rally the next afternoon and that was just a short walk down the hill.
Come on, chancellor, let the kids celebrate for a day!
Erin England 4 years, 6 months ago
You're right. In 2008, they also had a rally the next day at Memorial Stadium. I was barely awake for that. The night before was so exhausting. Most kids will not go to class due to being way hungover, too tired, or attending other celebrations.
aria92 4 years, 6 months ago
Come on Berny, learn to live a little.
kufan1146 4 years, 6 months 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."
Steve Tramba 4 years, 6 months ago
Outstanding point. Where will the chancellor be on Monday? Unless she's working until 3pm & taking Jayhawk1 down to the game, I call BS on this statement. The students pay for the classes, they're adults, let it go.... and let's also take ONE GAME AT A TIME PLEASE!!!!
kufan1146 4 years, 6 months ago
+1, I fortunately have never had to deal with the parking because I haven't taken night classes at KU but what a nightmare for students, who "supposedly" come first.
Teardrop 4 years, 6 months ago
Good question! Maybe "Heard on the Hill" will get that info for us.
ljwhirled 4 years, 6 months ago
Agreed: The Engineering students need to park on the other side of the moon when KU is playing.
If academics are really first, then the University should give athletics equal promotion and resources.
I can only imagine what the Engineers could create with the budget of KU Athletics. A rocket to the moon I bet.
impska 4 years, 6 months ago
I took a night class during my first semester at KU only to be surprised by the announcement that I wouldn't be allowed to park close to my class due to a game. I never took a night class again. I was shocked that KU thought catering to a sports game crowd was more important than my safety as a female student.
I am not and I never will be interested in walking long distances on campus at night to get to my car.
onceinawhile 4 years, 6 months ago
Good point. Freshman year at KU, I had to move my car the night before each home football game, even though I had a parking pass for the lot.
KUMFL 4 years, 6 months ago
Haha that's great kufan1156! So true... Just cancel... No ones gonna go anyways!
gconfo 4 years, 6 months ago
She's just pissed because KU beat North Carolina.
lawrence267 4 years, 6 months ago
That's what Bob said for years, and then he canceled class anyway
tltjk 4 years, 6 months 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.
ranger73 4 years, 6 months ago
I think we should worry about winning on SATURDAY first??? Point is moot if OSU wins.
whats_going_on 4 years, 6 months ago
word.
naturalist 4 years, 6 months ago
gosh everyone is really getting ahead of themselves here. KU has two games to win first.
Erin England 4 years, 6 months 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.
Cai 4 years, 6 months ago
Classes will be fairly empty if we lose on Monday too.
fu7il3 4 years, 6 months 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.
cowgirljayhawk 4 years, 6 months ago
not much of a KU fan are ya? it's the national championship! In '08 the town was buzzing for a whole week at least! good reason to celebrate especially if you're lucky enough to be student when it happens. students deserve the day off to revel in all that awesomeness...the TEAM deserves it even more...
fu7il3 4 years, 6 months ago
It's a game. There will be more next year.
MarcoPogo 4 years, 6 months ago
Poor Eeyore.
cowgirljayhawk 4 years, 6 months ago
It's more than just a game to Self and his boyz...bet they work a lot harder than you do.
fu7il3 4 years, 6 months ago
Speak for yourself. A lot of people work just as hard, if not harder than athletes, and they will never have a chance to make millions of dollars doing it. Students should feel free to skip class, but when you think of the reasons we have holidays, does winning a game really stand along with Independence Day, Martin Luther King Day, etc.? I'll be up late, just like everyone else, and I will be back to work in the morning regardless.
cowgirljayhawk 4 years, 6 months ago
We're not talking about a real holiday here, we're talking about cancelling classes for the students. The campus will be open and humming along as usual. Most of these KU bball players will not end up filthy rich, but they'll ALL remember what it felt like to win a championship and have an entire town celebrate right along with them. Enjoy the next two games fu7il3.
whats_going_on 4 years, 6 months 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?
kernal 4 years, 6 months ago
Ahhhhh, real life.
irvan moore 4 years, 6 months ago
bgl who
Jean Robart 4 years, 6 months 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.
Matt Schwartz 4 years, 6 months ago
eggs before they hatch
parrothead8 4 years, 6 months 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.
irvan moore 4 years, 6 months ago
i bet the g stands for grinch
rgh 4 years, 6 months 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.
gsxr600 4 years, 6 months ago
In other news, Danny Manning is leaving to coach Tulsa
Christine Anderson 4 years, 6 months 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!
birdsandflowers 4 years, 6 months 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.
Jeff Barclay 4 years, 6 months 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.
Teardrop 4 years, 6 months 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.
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