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The proposed two-day fall break at Syracuse University — which is scheduled for Indigenous Peoples Day and the following Tuesday — may not happen this fall, Student Association President David Bruen said.

On Wednesday, the University Senate passed a resolution to endorse a proposal that would add the two-day fall break. The resolution outlines that two instructional days will be added at the end of the fall semester to compensate for the additional break.

During Monday’s SA meeting, Bruen said that a combination of certain logistical issues may prevent the proposed break from being implemented this fall.

The resolution did not specify in which semester the proposed break would be implemented, and the final decision will be made by the provost, instead of the University Senate, Bruen told The Daily Orange.

Meanwhile, Bruen said during the meeting that a comment was made on the document containing the resolution indicating that the break will not be implemented until fall 2023. The comment was not included in the language of the resolution, and many who voted in favor of the resolution did not realize the “fine print comment at the very end,” Bruen told The D.O.

“We have seen even just this semester, how the schedule was changed pretty quickly. So it’s unacceptable for us to wait another year for this to happen,” Bruen said during the meeting.

Bruen said that SA is writing a letter to Gretchen Ritter, SU’s vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, among other administrators, advocating to have the break implemented this fall.

“The proposal was supported by faculty, students (and) staff, and it’s going to happen. So it is a win for student leaders and so many others,” Bruen told The D.O. “But I really feel that it should take place this fall. So we’re (going to) try and keep working to make that happen.”

Bruen told The D.O. that he hopes to have multiple wellness days throughout the academic year every year, and that it’s becoming a “necessity” for college students.

“These are small wins we’ve secured — we’ve got support for two days to create a fall break around Indigenous Peoples Day as well so we can have time put aside to celebrate our Indigenous history here,” Bruen said.

Other business

SA passed a bill to spend $19.99 to purchase a new gavel from Amazon for the speaker of the assembly, a position currently held by William Treloar, who introduced the bill. The current gavel being used was borrowed and does not belong to the association, according to the bill.

Published on April 19, 2022 at 12:03 am

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne