Dear Editor:

Recently, Saint Joseph’s University published the academic calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. After looking at it on the school’s website, I immediately noticed a few items that were slightly different from recent years. Among them, our first day of school is Aug. 28, slightly later than usual. Additionally, the term is listed as a 14-week course, while we have been operating under 16-week courses lately. A nice surprise is that Reading Day will fall on a Tuesday (which is more useful than the Saturday we usually have off) and that we will be done with final exams by Dec. 19.

Most alarming, however, is the Fall Break period. Fall Break only provides for two [class] days off that are coupled with the weekend, meaning students will [only have a break] from class Saturday-Tuesday  — a four-day break. For the past two years, St. Joe’s has operated with a week-long Fall Break. This has given students the opportunity to stop and rest while not needing to worry about impending deadlines or exams. I personally know students who had planned vacation trips for part of the week.

Students will now lose this luxury and the ability to take a good rest. For students who live outside of the immediate area, break may not give an opportunity to drive, fly or take a train home. The value of the break is diminished, and I hope the university had closely weighed all of these considerations when making this decision (a decision which would have only inevitably been discovered at the start of the fall term due to no open communication on the issue).

-Thomas Betterly ’24