Two weeks ago, faculty gathered to discuss a proposal recommending a weeklong Thanksgiving break. The new schedule would add two days to the current three-day break in Bowdoin's academic calendar. The proposal calls for the extra class days to be made up by shortening fall break to a single day and by having the first Friday of the semester follow a Monday schedule.
Make no mistake about it: this is a change that needs to happen. As Bowdoin has expanded its recruiting efforts to attract students from almost every state—and a number of foreign countries—it's time the College adjusts its calendar to reflect the changing needs of the student body.
In my three years at Bowdoin I have never been able to go home during Thanksgiving break. I am fortunate to have extended family members in Rhode Island with whom I have spent two Thanksgivings, and close friends who have offered to host me during the break, but nothing would be as welcome at this point in the semester as the opportunity to be reunited with my parents at home.
Extending Thanksgiving break by two days amounts to more than just an extra two days off from school; for many students, adopting the proposal would effectively double the time that they can spend with family and friends at home.
Many students don't have Friday classes, meaning they would theoretically be able to leave campus as early as Thursday evening the week before Thanksgiving. That turns what was a five-day break into a 10-day reprieve. A break that substantially give students who live far from Maine enough time at home to make a cross-country (or pan-continental) trip worth the cost.
Additionally, an extended break would give students the time to make real progress on end-of-semester projects over Thanksgiving break. When students have only five days off, two of which are almost entirely devoted to travel for some, it's hard to expect the break to be much of an opportunity to get ahead on looming assignments.
Between spending time with family and friends, helping to prepare the Thanksgiving meal, and catching up on some much-needed rest, students currently don't have much time to devote to their studies. The notion that students should somehow be using the break to complete major assignments is misguided at best. Yet that's exactly what many professors expect when they put together their syllabi and assign a major writing assignment or a test the week following Thanksgiving break.
A shift to a weeklong Thanksgiving break would make those expectations more reasonable and our workload as students more manageable.
Although I will have graduated by the time this proposal would come into effect, I hope Bowdoin moves forward with this initiative that will allow more of its students to return home.
For many, Thanksgiving represents one of the few times their entire family will gather around a single table and celebrate the simple fact of being together.
Bowdoin is a culturally and geographically diverse community, but the chance to spend time with family and close friends is something we all cherish. It's time Bowdoin acts to make that opportunity real for every member of this community.