The following Message was posted to the official.cmu-news bboard on December 16, 1997. The University Calendar Committee, on which students, faculty and staff sit, has recommended that classes be canceled on this day beginning next academic year, in January of 1999. The Student Senate and Graduate Student Assembly have recommended that classes be canceled on this day beginning this academic year. The Faculty Senate has recommended that the matter be further reviewed to consider a variety of options reflecting thoughtful and well-intentioned views about the effectiveness of canceling classes and its appropriateness, especially on that day.
Many students share that hesitation.
One of the suggestions I have heard from almost all quarters is that we ought to expand our activities in honor of Dr. King and the significance of his day, whether or not classes are canceled. Jr. Day, effective 1999. In addition, I will provide additional support to the existing celebration planning committee to expand activities in the future beyond what we have done historically. Although Martin Luther King Day will not be a staff holiday, I will recommend to supervisors of staff members that they permit anyone wishing to take advantage of these opportunities to take this time off from work with compensation. It is my expectation this will be an afternoon of celebration together as a community, not solely time deferred from our important work.