Ithaca College

Beginning with the 2007–8 academic year, Ithaca College will no longer hold classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Instead, that day will be set aside each year for learning and service activities. President Peggy R. Williams made the announcement of the change to members of the College community attending the 2006 MLK Day Breakfast.

“We consulted with multiple campus constituencies for many months in determining how best to balance the needs and desires of the members of the campus community, and I am pleased that we were able to reach this conclusion,” says Williams. “While we have for many years held special programs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this change means that no longer will anyone face the dilemma of having to choose between attending classes or attending those events.”

The spring semester will still officially begin on the third Monday in January, as it has traditionally, notes Williams. “Rather than holding classes on that day, however, we will work with students and faculty to program a series of activities appropriate to honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King.”

The one-day delay in the start of classes will mean that both spring semester classes and final exams will end on a Monday, rather than on a Friday.

“In revising the calendar, the College had to take into account the constraints imposed by strict New York State Department of Education regulations regarding the minimum number of class meetings and hours required for an academic year, and the fact that any change in the spring schedule could not put Ithaca College’s Commencement on the same weekend as Cornell University’s,” says registrar Chris Knauer, who chairs the College’s Calendar Committee.

With next year’s academic calendar already established, the change will take effect beginning in January
of 2008.