Ask the Gargoyle

Why are flagler’s semesters shorter than most other colleges?

By Rebecca Shields

According to Dean of Student Services Daniel Stewart, the reason dates back to when the school first opened and air conditioning was not available in the residence halls or in the classrooms.

“Starting the school years as late as possible in the summer made the time here, when hottest, the smallest, and in the spring getting out before it became too terribly hot,” Stewart said.

Now that resident halls are air conditioned, some students question the lack of holiday breaks during the semesters.

“School has such a drain on students that giving them a little relief during each semester would do wonders,” Junior Brian Freshley said. “I could give up a couple of weeks so we could have a real spring break and an official holiday off here and there.”

While the idea of adjusting semesters sounds simple to students, there are more factors that go into it. The change would result in an increase in tuition for those students on campus.

“The extra weeks of food would have to be worked into the cost, [as well as] issues like the additional electrical and water use,” Stewart said.

Sophomore Jennifer Gardner said that she would be opposed to a change in the semester length.

“I would love a longer spring break, but it is hard enough paying for the tuition increases that occur every year already,” Gardner said.

“I work over the summers and every work day counts, because that money goes to paying for this school and books. Taking away time for work and adding on payments would not be worth two or three extra break days.”

The issues of adjustments to the calendar and options for the college are currently being discussed by an ad-hoc committee on campus.