No Spring Break may be what breaks students. Graphic by Alison Carpino.
The University of Rhode Island’s Student Senate has been brainstorming ideas to support student’s mental health after Spring Break was canceled this semester.
Many senators noted that students have been experiencing increased stress as a result of the University canceling Spring Break this year due to COVID-19.
The Student Senate brought this to the attention of the Faculty Senate and has been working with them for a month to create ways for students to relieve their stress from the pandemic and having no downtime in the semester.
The Student Senate has proposed a few solutions including, giving students mental health days, having a three-day weekend and holding a Spirit Week.
“The [Faculty Senate’s] biggest problem is thinking that students are going to go and buy plane tickets and go to Florida and come back and bring the virus on campus,” Austyn Ramsay, president of the Student Senate, said. “But we’re thinking about some smart [solutions] that other schools have instituted, mental health days in the middle of the week, like on a Wednesday where we just relax and there’s no homework assigned or a random three day weekend to give students the break that we need so bad.”
Ramsay said that she is still waiting to hear the Faculty Senate’s response to instituting mental health days and a three-day weekend. She is also unsure what the Faculty Senate will propose and what they will ask the Student Senate to do. The Student Senate will then be able to accept or deny their proposals.
She is confident that if nothing is approved, the student body will come together to show the University the importance of having a break. If this happens, Student Senate will “hit the drawing board again,” according to Ramsay.
The only thing set in stone right now is that students will have extra reading days because Spring Break was canceled.
“I know that they are giving us some extra reading days in April, but by then it’s too late,” Ramsay said. “We’ve already burned out so we need it now, so that’s what we’re working on.”
Ramsay expects that the Student Senate will hear back from Faculty Senate this week.
On-Campus and Student Organizations Committee Chair Katie Siegle is working on putting together a spirit week for students.
“It’s going to be a week of events like grab and go, social media giveaways, events that are going to give students something to do, something to look forward to since we didn’t have a Spring Break,” Siegle said. “I understand that doing these social media giveaways and these events isn’t really going to substitute the fact that we don’t have a Spring Break, but I just thought it would be a fun way to make it seem different from the normal routine.”
The spirit week will take place from March 29 to April 2. On Monday, students can participate in a stuff an animal event in the Memorial Union. On Tuesday, Rhody Eatz, URI’s food truck, will be selling ice cream outside of the Union. On Wednesday, the Office of Student Enrollment will be hosting a bamboo plant event. On Thursday, students can participate in a trivia competition, where the winners can get prizes. On Friday, students can play cornhole, spikeball, wiffleball and Kanjam on the quad.
Students will need to register ahead of the stuff an animal, bamboo plant and yard game events on the URI Events page.