The real reason we have class the day before Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner set on a table. | Alexander Raths
It’s the time of year where students and faculty at Saddleback all wonder why the day before one of the biggest American holidays is a full instructional day. Whether you’re used to the lack of a holiday break or you’re a freshman who is still used to having a week off in high school, the reason we have classes is still a mystery to many.
The official reason is due to the need to have the week count as an instructional week, according to Frank Gonzalez, the co-chair of the math department and instructor at Saddleback.
“In order for the week to ‘count,’ there must be at least 3 instructional days,” said Gonzalez. “If we took Wednesday off, we’d need to take the whole week off. Which means classes would start a week earlier forcing Summer session to be a week shorter.”
This kind of scheduling around Thanksgiving is very common among community colleges around Southern California. For example, Long Beach City College, Cerritos College and Orange Coast College all have the same instructional days from Nov. 25-27 as the South Orange County Community College District.
One college that stands out though is Riverside City College, which has the entire week of Thanksgiving set as a closed campus with no instruction. This means there isn’t a state requirement and that it’s simply a decision left up to the district.
So while the schedule is ultimately decided by a committee with the district, it doesn’t stop students from having their own opinions about the decision.
“It’s also unfair to those who have to help prepare a Thanksgiving meal by making them spend time in class when they could be helping,” said Nick Mata, a second year student.
Overall, it’s simply a choice between having the fall semester cut further into summer or having an extra three instructional days during Thanksgiving week. If the school were to poll students on this decision it might give a clearer answer on what to do, but the vote outcome would likely be close to 50/50.
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