It looks like spring break might be cancelled this upcoming year, according to Maurice Edington, Florida A&M University’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The news comes after a Board of Trustees meeting held on Thursday. Edington said he is working with Florida State University due to the partnership shared with the College of Engineering.
“We are finalizing our plans internally [and] hopefully meeting by tomorrow, but it looks like there will be no spring break at our campus,” said Edington. “I just want to share that with you while we work to finalize that decision.”
FAMU is not the only university in the state to be ending the week-long break. The University of Florida announced that they are officially cancelling their spring break. According to an announcement, UF is adding one extra week to winter break to make up the loss of spring break.
UF is not the only university cancelling their spring break. Institutions who have announced the cancellation of the week-long break include the University of Tennessee, Kansas State University and Ohio State University.
FAMU students have already taken to Twitter to express their distaste for the cancellation.
“So FAMU might be cancelling spring break? This ain’t it,” tweeted user @Notably_Nekedra.
Edington said some university leaders are looking to cancel spring break or move it to the beginning or end of the semester. Edington also stated that the cancellation of spring break would only affect the main campus, and not the College of Law in Orlando, as they are on their own schedule.
Nicole Washington, the Academic and Student Affairs Chair, urged the Provost to include faculty input in making his decision.
“Spring break serves multiple purposes and I do hope we listen to the faculty and all the stakeholders on this one,” said Washington. “If they need a break in the middle of the semester just to catch up then we are considering that, even in all of the things that are happening.”
The decision to cancel spring break can come as early as next week.