“Thirsty Thursday.”
We’ve all heard the term before. Clubhouse, Al’s and the Grape are all popular Thursday night hangouts for Fairfield students. For many, going out on a Thursday night at Fairfield is a necessity, but Friday classes typically are not.
However, is all that about to change? There has been a recent push from schools such as Duke and Syracuse to “take back Fridays,” according to the New York Times.
Administrators at these schools, according to the article, are moving more classes to Fridays and scheduling them for earlier in the mornings, for a number of reasons.
A main concern for administrators, according to Duke University provost Peter Lange, is the students’ Thursday night partying.
Of the 20 percent increase of Friday classes at Duke, Lange said to The Times, “I’m not sure it’s a solution to Thursday night drinking problems, although I’m sure it has some effect.”
Professors at Fairfield have noticed the Friday morning attendance slump as well.
“I used to teach on Fridays, and stopped because there were some attendance issues, but also, those who attended were not particularly well prepared,” said Visual and Performing Arts Professor Laura Nash.
Would a combination of increased class offerings on Fridays and more incentive for students to attend class curb Thursday night partying at Fairfield?
It appears that we will not be finding out in the near future. According to Fairfield’s Registrar Robert Russo, the university already increased Friday class offerings during the fall of 2001 and does not have plans to add more Friday classes again anytime soon. Before the schedule change, said Russo, the time codes were for Monday and Wednesday classes or Tuesday and Thursday classes.
The administration then made the shift to our current Monday and Thursday and Tuesday and Friday time codes. This was done to increase class attendance on Fridays. Right now, Fairfield offers an estimated 229 classes on Fridays, compared to almost 430 classes offered on Mondays.
Russo said, however, that although he finds some students trying to schedule their schedules around Friday classes, a lot do not.
Some students attend class every Friday, despite partying the night before.
“If I had a Tuesday-Friday class, I’d go to it,” said Janelle Buckley ’06. “I’d feel like I’d miss something during the lecture for the test [or] paper, and if I didn’t know anyone in class I wouldn’t be able to get the info I missed.”
Rob McDonnell ’08 feels the same way.
“I mean, kids are going to go out if they want…me personally, I go out Thursdays and still go to class on Friday, no big deal,” he said.
Many students agree that although attending class on Fridays after a night out isn’t exactly ideal, it doesn’t prevent them from going.
“Sometimes the partying on Thursdays does cause a problem with getting to class on Friday, but as my dad said, classes come first so you’ve got to attend, even if you’re a little hungover,” said Danielle Bujak ’09.
Politics Professor Donald Greenberg does not necessarily see a problem with Friday attendance.
“I do not see any drop in enrollment, and while I do not take formal attendance, I do not believe there is any drop-off of students in class on Fridays,” he said.
Some students believe that Fridays are and should continue to be “lighter days” -because of hangovers and the fact that they want to get the weekend started.
“I try and get a lighter schedule on Fridays because then you’re able to do something on Thursday nights, and it extends the weekend,” said Jerzy Shustin ’08.
Though the verdict on Friday classes seems to be split among the Fairfield community, it appears that there is no imminent danger of administration “taking back Fridays” here. Thursday will continue to make many students thirsty, and Friday still will not come soon enough.
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