Length of Fall Break Questioned by Students
A whiteboard in the student government office that gets changed with every event, it reads "Happy Midsemester Break Red Foxes!” Credit: Jazi Khraishi '26
Following the nervous energy permeating from midterm week, Marist College becomes a ghost town between Oct. 20-22 for fall break. Students are encouraged to return home for the three days as campus dining locations and administrative offices close down.
Marist officials dub this weekend fall break, but some students live too far to go home for the short duration and some students even choose to stay here because they believe it is easier than traveling home.
“I don’t think the break or ‘recess’ makes it so that all students can travel home,” said Steven Aspera ‘27 who is from Hawaii. “Only the students who live close or like a few hours away went home [...] three days is not nearly enough time to visit family.”
Even some who live closer than Hawaii choose to stay on campus because traveling can be taxing and adds to the stress that comes with midterms. Maxine Georgiadis ‘26 lives in New Jersey and decided to spend the weekend at Marist due to the tiring nature of traveling home.
“I chose to stay over break because I’ve been going through a lot lately and have been extremely exhausted and stressed,” said Georgiadis. “The travel to go home and come back would have been a lot for me with only having one day off.”
Some students are discovering that other schools, such as Vassar College and the University of Notre Dame, have longer breaks than just one day and are asking themselves why Marist cannot have a longer break. Not being able to return home during the semester “just adds salt to the wound,” said Aspera, and can contribute to homesickness.
Those fortunate enough to travel home over the break agreed that fall break needs to be longer to be dubbed a “break.”
“I think fall break should be longer. You can’t even really call it a break; it’s just a long weekend,” said Connecticut native Piper Leibrock ‘26. “I think we should either have a week off or even just a couple more days off, like Wednesday, Thursday and Friday instead of just Friday.”
Although Leibrock could go home, she still didn’t feel like she was receiving a break. “I also felt like I couldn’t fully relax because I still had homework to do,” said Leibrock. “I wish professors didn’t assign homework over fall break so that students would have a chance to fully relax after the stressful midterm week.”
Catherine Kodat, provost and dean of faculty, explained that, while not knowing exactly why the break is only one day, the New York State Department of Education sets requirements for a minimum number of days of instruction in an academic year.
“I suspect that may be a factor” when discussing the length of fall break,” said Kodat.
Dining hall doors were closed due to Fall Recess to give employees a break. Credit: Jazi Khraishi '26
During the fall recess, all dining options besides the Cabaret are closed. These closures make it much harder for those who stay on campus during fall break to find places to eat. Although students who stay on campus over break find it unfair that they do not have dining options, the decision to close the dining hall considers the dining hall employees deserve a break as well.
“Gourmet Dining is committed to ensuring the well-being of its employees,” director of community relations for Gourmet Dining Gabby Licini said. “We wholeheartedly believe our employees deserve time off for how hard they work; we also understand they are here to make a living just like any other Marist College employee.”